The House of Hades
by Kimmie G914
Summary: Heroes Fight for the Doors of Death But Have to Face Dead Man's Last Breath. The gang is at it again, and this time the odds are stacked against them with their backs against the wall. With a new problem and another fight to save the world, they have to work harder then ever! Full prophecy inside(at some point)!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, Everyone!**

**Welcome to my version of The House of Hades, book 4 in the Heroes of Olympus (or HoO) series by none other than Rick Riordan. This is my re-editted and re-uploaded version, because some of my mistakes were huge and seriously bugging me, and they have been for weeks now, but I was too lazy to fix it, so now I have. **

**Welcome, newcomers, to my fanfictions as well, and thanks to everyone who's been with me for a while!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 1

Leo

Leo tried his best to steer the ship, but his eyes were so blurred with building tears, he didn't know whether a bird was a monster or not.

He finally decided to put it on auto-pilot and take a break. He swung his Wii Remote side to side as he pressed the "z" button his nunchuck and put them down on his dashboard.

He staggered down to the deck, dabbing at his eyes with the back of his hands and his thumbs.

Halfway to the stairs, he hit something and fell back.

He shook his head and looked up. He saw Frank, towering over him. "Hey," Frank muttered.

"Hi," Leo replied and stood up.

There was an awkward silence as Leo brushed some dirt off his shoulder. _Let's hope Coach Hedge's next punishment is having someone mop the deck_, Leo thought.

"So, um," Frank started.

"Uh-huh," Leo said.

"Leo, I'm sorry," Frank said suddenly.

"Sorry for what?" Leo asked, suddenly curious.

"This," Frank replied, then a huge cage was suddenly dropped on him from the sky.

Leo grabbed the bars and tried to get out, but then he looked back at Frank.

He wasn't Frank anymore.

All he saw was a huge shadow where Frank once stood. He had no idea what it could have been, but he shrieked and backed up against the cage bars.

The scene had suddenly changed; they were now in a room. It was mostly shadows, but he could see the huge shadow of the thing that used to be Frank, and the wall behind Used-To-Be-Frank, which was painted an orange gold.

There was a loud roar that must have come from Used-To-Be-Frank. It sounded like a mixture of animals, but he couldn't make out any.

Leo screamed as it took and step forward and reached a limb in between the cage bars, toward Leo.

* * *

Leo woke with a start and flung himself out of bed, sweat all over his body. He coughed a little, trying to get the dust out of his mouth.

_Water_, he thought. _I need water_.

So, he stood up, grabbed the Archimedes Sphere and walked out of his room and around the ship until he found the kitchen.

Just because it was his ship doesn't mean he doesn't get a little lost sometimes when he's tired.

He put the sphere down on the counter, got a glass, and got some water. He took the water and the sphere back to his cabin. He put the sphere away in a big cabinet next to his bed. He sat on his bed, ran a hand through his hair, and chugged his glass quickly.

Then he decided he needed fresh air.

He was a little hesitant to go out on the deck without the Archimedes Sphere after his dream, but he was too lazy to take it out again.

So, he did the only logical thing a demigod in his position would do: he dragged the cabinet up to the deck with him.

He looked over the rail at the calm, cool night sky, and the land below him he could barely see. Every now and then he could see some lights from the ground, but it was mostly quiet and dark as they sailed overhead.

Leo started counting the stars. Then he got distracted by a small bird flying near by and lost count, so he quit.

He looked by the door that lead below deck, and he saw, leaning against the rail and the wall behind it, the Athena Parthenos.

He scowled and stalked up to it. He thought about pushing it over the edge, but that would defeat the whole purpose of Annabeth and Percy's sacrifice, so he simply growled, "It should have been you."

He turned away and walked back over to the rail. The cool air had gotten rid of the sweat, and he was feeling well enough to go back downstairs and too sleep, when suddenly he heard Jason.

"Hey, Leo," he muttered. "Why are you here?"

"Bad dream," Leo replied, and Jason walked up next to him and leaned against the rail and watched the stars.

"You too?" Jason asked.

Leo nodded. "What was yours about?"

"I was up on the deck with…" Jason hesitated, and Leo waited.

Jason sighed. "I was up on the deck with Percy, and we were talking about something, and then all of a sudden he dropped a cage on me, and turned into some…_thing _that I couldn't see. And then he tried to grab to me, when I woke up. So, I came up here, and here you are."

Leo froze. That was exactly like his dream, only his weird creature was Frank.

"Dude," Leo said. "That was almost the exact same dream as mine."

Jason looked over at him, shocked. "What was different?"

"Instead of Percy, I had Frank," Leo looked over at Jason. "Do you think it means something?"

"Well, it has to!" Jason walked away from the railing and paced on the deck as Leo turned around and watched him.

"But do you think it's important?" Leo asked.

"I'm hoping it's a lead." Jason sighed and looked at Leo. "What do you think?"

"Did it screech?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, when it was grabbing for me," Jason replied. "Why?"

"What did it sound like?" Leo asked.

"Like, different animals, but I couldn't make out which ones," Jason replied. "Why does this seem important?"

"Well, if this is a lead, like you say, then every detail is important," Leo replied, and started pacing by the railing. "Do you know any creatures in Mythology like that?"

"No," Jason ran a frustrated hand through his hair and said, "You know, I'm really not used to feeling useless like this. I'm used to leading, but I don't have anything to lead with!"

"Maybe you need to take a break and be a follower for a while?" Leo suggested. "Feeling like a whole thing is on your shoulders is tough."

He waved a hand to dismiss the idea before it even reached him, or at least that was what it looked like to Leo. "No, I work best under pressure."

"Well, I wasn't saying _I _should try leading," Leo confirmed. "I suck under pressure."

Jason nodded. Then he looked up and said, "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, you and Piper had to help me get Buford back before the ship exploded because I couldn't do it myself, and now Percy and Annabeth are gone and things just got a crap ton more stressful." Leo sighed.

"Where are we going again?" Jason asked.

"Epirus," Leo replied, and Jason nodded.

"Okay, so what is our main plan?" Jason asked.

"We get to Greece, go kill some monsters, and then we make sure Percy and Annabeth made it to their side of the Doors, and then we close the Doors together," Leo said simply.

"That's it?" Jason asked.

"For now, yeah. Plans don't have to be complex. It's as simple as getting in and out." Leo promised.

Jason nodded. "Okay. I'm gonna go back downstairs before everyone else gets up and try to get some sleep. You should to."

Leo nodded.

Jason started walking away, but suddenly he said, "And, Leo?"

"Yeah?" he looked over at Jason.

"Nice Spiderman pajamas, dude," he winked and disappeared down the stairs.

Leo opened his mouth so say something, but he realized there was nothing to say, and Jason was probably long gone by now, so he found himself standing by the railing with his mouth hanging open for no reason.

So, he closed his mouth and took Archimedes Sphere out of the cabinet and started messing with it.

* * *

**Tell me in a review or PM or anything if you liked it or you didn't, or how you think this story might play out with the dreams and everything.**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, everybody!**

**So, this is chapter two! I hope you enjoy this part of the story.**

**WARNING: This chapter may include maximum confusion and total epicness. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 2

Jason

Jason woke up later and shivered. He crawled out of bed, changed into a pair of old jeans and a red t-shirt he got during a pit stop to refuel, and wandered into the dining hall.

He sat down next to Piper, who was eating a grapefruit that looked like it was sugar cured instead of salt, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Good morning to you, too," Piper replied sweetly.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, just trying to be a good boyfriend.

Her expression suddenly changed form happy to troubled, and she said, "No."

"Bad dream?" Jason asked.

She nodded.

"Tell me," Jason pushed.

"Well, I was on the deck with Reyna, and we were talking, and then she suddenly dropped a cage on me from out of nowhere, and turned into this…_thing _that I couldn't even see clearly, and then it reached for me through the bars, and I woke up." Piper said.

Jason went white as a sheet. _Someone _else _with the same dream? This can't be a coincidence. Should I tell her?_

_ Yes,_ Jason decided. _Yes, I'll tell her_.

"Piper, I-" Jason started, but them Leo wandered in with Coach Hedge and Jason reminded himself that it was Leo's business, too, and he should check with him first.

"What did the grapefruit do to you?" Leo asked, spying Piper's sugar coated fruit half.

"It's sour!" Piper protested. "Plus, this is the way my dad used to give it to me."

Leo decided to stay silent this time, and grabbed a box of Cheerios from a table. He shoved his hand in the box and Jason complained, "Dude, I was gonna eat that!"

Leo stuck the open part of the box toward him, and with a handful of Cheerios in his mouth he managed to say, "Want some?"

"Not anymore," Jason held up his hands and leaned away from the box as Leo shrugged and stuffed another handful into his mouth.

"Dang it!" Coach hedge grumbled by one of the tables. "You don't have any burgers!"

"For breakfast?" Piper asked while Leo said, "Sure we do!"

"No, I want the wax paper!" Coach groaned and dropped himself into the chair at the head of the table.

"Hey, Leo," Piper started, and Leo looked up at her. "Where's Archimedes's Sphere?"

"Oh!" Leo brightened up instantly and pushed the Cheerios box away.

He was about to do something, when Hazel, Frank and Nico walked in. Frank looked weird and wouldn't meet Leo's gaze, which made Jason think something was up, and Hazel yawned and grabbed a doughnut then sat down.

Nico had bags under his eyes that made him look like he'd been hit in the eyes.

"Okay, why are you all so tired?" Coach asked. "Were you sneaking out? _Did you sneak out_?!"

"Didn't sleep," Nico mumbled and sat down at the table and stared at it.

"Bad dream," Frank replied.

"Not enough sleep," Hazel murmured as she sat down beside Frank and handed him a doughnut.

"Mhm," Coach said. "Fine. I'll check with you guys later, see if you stick to the same story."

Jason slipped over to Frank and asked, "You too?"

Frank eyed him. "You had a bad dream?"

"What was yours like?" Jason asked.

"Leo put me in a cage and then he turned into something that I still don't know, and then I woke up," Frank whispered. "Don't tell him, okay? He'll think he has complete power over me if he knows I have nightmares about him."

"Okay, I'm not going to tell him, but I need to talk to Leo right now," Jason whispered.

"Swear?" Frank asked.

"Swear," Jason replied, and walked over to Leo.

"Dude, Piper and Frank had the same nightmare we did, only with different people," Jason whispered.

"Whoa. Really?" Leo asked.

Jason nodded.

"Something is definitely up. Who did they deal with?"

"Piper had Reyna," Jason said. He wasn't going to break his swear with Frank until he told Frank what was happening. "Should we tell people?"

"Absolutely. Wait," Leo said suddenly. "Let's see if Coach dreamed the same? He seems a little on edge today."

"Alright," Jason replied, and he walked away from Leo and his Cheerios.

He walked up to Coach Hedge. "Did you have trouble sleeping last night, Coach?"

"Well, I did have one weird dream," Coach said.

_Please, don't be the same again. That would just be weird if I was sharing dreams with a goat…_Jason thought.

"I was in candy land, and all these little _thing_…they looked like gum drops with bunny ears and feet…came up to me and jumped all around me.

"At first, I was going to bash their heads in with my club, but I didn't have it with me. _Plus_, my hands were peppermints, anyway.

"So, they took me to their queen, who happened to be a big roll of wax paper, and she let me eat some her if I'd agree to marry her. So, I agreed, and I ate half of her." Coach looked up at Jason.

Jason was very confused.

"That's the dream," Coach said, as if he was expecting some kind of reaction from Jason.

"You lost me at the Bunny Drops," Jason said, and he left, still very confused.

He walked past Leo and shook his head, and Leo took a hard swallow of Cheerios with a scowl on his face.

Had he _wanted _Coach to have that dream?

He walked up to Frank and whispered, "Three other people had a similar dream. I'm one of them. Piper and Leo, too."

Frank gulped. "Did he have…me?"

"We'll figure that out when I make the announcement. I can say it, right? Swear over?" Jason asked.

Frank nodded slowly. "Okay."

Jason smiled.

_I finally have a lead! Maybe I can get Nico to trust me, and I can lead these guys!_ Jason thought eagerly as he stood at the table next to Piper and said, "Guys, listen up. I have alarming news."

Everyone but Nico looked at him, Leo's expression a little excited, when Coach groaned, "Does this have anything to do with the Queen of Candy Land?"

"No, and not the Bunny Drops, either," Jason reassured him, and Coach nodded and said, "Fine. Go on with your little speech."

Jason didn't know how to take that, but that was just how Coach was.

Jason cleared his throat and began, "I think I have a lead."

"On what?" Hazel asked.

"Well, I'm not quite sure, but it's important." Jason replied.

She nodded. "I trust you."

He nodded.

"Four of us have had very similar dreams," Jason said. "And it all had to do with some other person."

"And a cage?" Piper asked.

"And a shadow creature thing," Frank mumbled.

"So, Jason, me, Frank, and…" Piper looked around.

"Me," Leo said.

Piper nodded.

"So, I think that monster has something to do with this, but I also think that there is something else going on in this dream. The person you were with," Jason turned to Piper, "who was it again?"

"Reyna," Piper said.

"Okay, and Leo?" Jason turned to Leo.

"Frank," Leo spat through a thick wall of chewed up Cheerios.

"Leo." Frank whispered.

"I had Percy," Jason admitted.

"What does it mean?" Hazel asked.

"I don't mean to pry," Nico said for the first time in a while and picking his head up to look at everyone, "but based on what I've gathered just by being here so far, Frank and Leo don't particularly _like _each other. And now they appear as monsters in each other's dreams?"

"Reyna and I did a lot of fighting," Piper admitted. "Mostly about you, to be honest, Jason, but she really isn't all that nice of a person to me in general."

"And I guess Percy and I have always been in sort of a power struggle," Jason admitted slowly, "but I can't say I dislike him or distrust him."

"No, but you want to lead, he gets to lead, and you argue about decisions often. Am I correct so far?" Nico asked everyone.

Frank nodded, Hazel nodded, and Piper stood up and in an angry huff said, "I don't see how you accusing Jason has anything to do with this!" and she grabbed her grapefruit and left the room.

"What's her deal?" Hazel asked.

"PMS?" Leo suggested.

"Shut up," Jason said and looked at Nico. "But she's right."

"I'm not accusing anyone, I'm trying to get my facts straight," Nico said calmly, "But apparently the new guy isn't wanted anymore."

He stood up to leave, when Hazel stood up and said, "Let's all just stop being a bunch of drama queens and get things done. Jason, I'll go get Piper. Nico, _stay here_," and Hazel left.

_So much for our group meeting_, Jason thought sourly as he sat back down.

"We need to hurry and get to Camp," Nico sighed and slumped lower in his chair.

Jason perked up suddenly, and Leo said, "Wait, what?"

"We're stopping at Camp Half-Blood first to refuel, get more supplies, and he better prepared for Tartarus." Nico said. "Leo, how close are we?"

Before Leo could answer, Hazel brought Piper back and said, "Now, Jason, what was the rest of your big speech?"

"We're going to Camp Half-Blood?" is all he said.

"Yeah," Piper said, confused. "I thought you knew that."

"I'd better go change course," Leo said and left the room.

"Wait, where are we headed?" Hazel asked.

"We thought we were going straight to Greece," Jason said.

* * *

**You see, when a team miss understands each other, everybody dies. They're really going to have to pull together to save Percy and Annabeth, their friends, and the people who were holding the team together. Besides Leo, maybe...he had some good jokes to calm people down...**

**Thanks for Reading!**

****HOLD UP MOMENT****

**Me: Okay, I need to speak with all of you.**

**Hazel: Yeah? What's up?**

**Me: Well, Hazel this really has nothing to do with either you or Nico, so you two can go if you want to.**

**Nico: Cool. I'm gonna go do something. (Leaves)**

**Hazel: I'll stay.**

**Me: Okay. Well, everyone else...I'm not really _believing _you.**

**Jason: _What_? Are you serious?! I'm doing the _perfect _impression of a jealous leader! **

**Frank: And, I honestly don't have very many lines, so how is my character even going to be _portrayed_?**

**Me: Yeah, I have to get at that a little bit, but-**

**Percy: And how can we not be doing well? We haven't even _shown up_ yet!**

**Annabeth: Yeah! I mean, come on Kimmie!**

**Me: Listen, I'm not talking about you either! You have to actually _perform _to have your performances _judged_. I know that.**

**Percy and Annabeth: Good!**

**Leo: You know, with me, I kind of understand what you mean. I should have been talking about Archimedes Sphere more. I'm supposed to obsessed with it and all.**

**Leo: But I _do _have a problem with the fact that I keep getting _interupted _by people walking in the _door_!**

**(And the talking goes on...)**

**Piper: You know what, Kimmie, I'm sick of you! I think you feel like jumping off a bridge into toxic waste now.**

**Me: Now don't you charmspeak _me _young lady, but you're very right, I do...**

**Everyone: We'll walk you.**

**Me: That's so sweet!**

**Me: (Gets to bridge, and stands over the huge vat of toxic waste) Do I really want to do this?**

**Piper: No, you don't.**

**Me: No, I don't! OH MY GODS, NO I DON'T!**

**Frank: (Sneaks up behind me. Pushes me off the bridge)**

**Me: (Screaming) WWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHYYY YYYYYYYYYYYYY?! (Splash)**

**Everyone: (Laughing)**

**Me: (Shrieking in pure agony as the toxic waste and filling with radiation and dying of skin cancer in less than a minute, silencing my screams)**

**Everyone: (Evapoartes into nothing)**

**You see, there was no author there to write them anymore, so they disappeared. :)**

**Moral of the story is, _don't turn against the person who created you. _Especially _if your a book character_.**

****END OF HOLD UP****

**Thanks for Reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys!**

**Okay, I bet you all are wondering;**

**WHY IS SHE TAKNG SO LONG TO UPDATE?! I think I'm going to throw myself off a building!**

**Well, don't do _that_...But I want you to know why it took me so long to write this chapter: I literally revised this chapter and added onto it about thirteen times. I wanted it to be _that _good. It's kind of long, so I hope you think it's worth the wait! By the way, it's full of action (for the most part)!**

* * *

Chapter 3

Annabeth

Annabeth could remember what had happened perfectly.

She had been celebrating defeating Arachne, when she had been pulled down into Tartarus by the web connected to her foot.

Percy had gone down with her and tried to hold on, but in the end he couldn't do it.

So, Percy let go, and they went tumbling down into Tartarus together.

Annabeth was barely able to hold on to Percy's hand as they fell. She couldn't see anything but darkness, and that was what worried her.

_Did Tartarus ever _really _stop? What if we encounter monsters who hate us down here? The list of those who _don't _hate us would be much, _much _shorter. _Annabeth thought pessimistically.

"Annabeth!" Percy shouted over the wind pounding in their ears.

Annabeth could hear her heartbeat in her ears. "Yeah?" she shouted back.

"I just wanted to make sure you were still conscious," Percy called.

"Okay," Annabeth replied loudly, and then they were silent again.

* * *

They had been falling for what seemed liked a year when the temperature suddenly dropped maybe forty degrees. Annabeth shivered and blew into the air.

Her breath came out in a white puff, and she sighed, sending another puff spiraling out of her mouth, and shivered.

"P-P-Percy," she shouted.

"Annab-beth?" Percy yelled. "Are you still holding onto my hand?"

"Of course," Annabeth yelled back.

"Good-d. I c-can't feel my h-h-h-hand anymo-ore," Percy shuttered over the wind.

Annabeth grabbed Percy's wrist with her free hand and climbed over to him like she was climbing a vertical rope.

She wrapped an arm around his chest and he wrapped both his arms around her body as they continued to fall through the cold, shivering and breathing out white puffs.

* * *

Annabeth opened her eyes and found herself tied horizontally to a horizontal metal pole, which was turning at a slow pace, and she realized she was surrounded by flames.

She freaked, and she screamed.

Then she felt the metal getting warmer under her back, and she screamed again.

* * *

Annabeth woke with a start. There was the familiar pounding of her heartbeat in her ears, and the rush of wind all around them as they continued their descent into Tartarus.

Annabeth realized it was heating up, and she wasn't cold anymore.

She looked up and saw that Percy was looking down at her.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Hi," she replied.

"Did you get any sleep?" Annabeth asked.

"No," Percy replied. "I was too cold, and I wanted to make sure nothing was going to attack us."

Annabeth nodded against his chest.

"Your turn to sleep," Annabeth said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Percy muttered, and soon after, Annabeth could hear him snoring.

* * *

They continued to fall for quite some time, when suddenly, Annabeth looked over Percy's shoulder and saw something she thought she'd never see: a small, circular light, growing ever so slightly as they continued to fall.

_We're getting somewhere! Tartarus _isn't _bottomless! _Annabeth thought excitedly, and she decided to watch it grow under them.

She thought about waking Percy for a minute, but then decided against it. He needed the rest, and the surprise could wait.

Annabeth had been watching the circle grow bigger, and it still wasn't very big, when she suddenly saw a big black shape swirling around them in the wind.

There was a small sound that sounded like closing pinchers, and suddenly, the black shape flung itself at them.

Annabeth shrieked and dodged.

A monster that wanted to kill them! Annabeth didn't quite now what to do. She didn't have her bronze knife; how could she defend herself?

The monster dove at them again, and Annabeth actually got a glimpse at the beast's face as she dodged.

It was more than just a monster. It was Arachne!

Arachne hissed as she flew passed, and Annabeth remembered that Percy had Riptide. It _must _have been in his pocket.

She reached in his front jeans pocket and pulled out the bronze pen.

She uncapped it, and the sword sprung to life. She waited for Arachne to lunge at them again before striking.

And, just as she suspected, Arachne dove at them again with an angry hiss of, "Die, you lying demigod!"

Annabeth froze. A gigantic spider was flying at her. A giant _spider _was flying at her.

She shrieked, closed her eyes, turned her head away, and swung the sword in front of her.

The blade hit something and sunk into it, and she could hear Arachne screeching.

Annabeth opened her eyes and saw Arachne's abdomen on the sword, and Arachne swung her legs around and they fell.

"Haha, not so tough now, aren't you?" Annabeth said, trying to sound as confident as possible.

And, suddenly, Riptide vanished from her hand, and Arachne flew back into the wall of Tartarus.

Annabeth looked down to see if she'd _dropped _it, but all she saw was the pool of light that she was so eager to get to.

Suddenly, there was something huge on her, and maybe four things wrapped around her, all hairy and gross.

Annabeth was wrenched away from Percy, just in time for her to throw up.

"_You will pay, daughter of Athena_," Arachne hissed.

Annabeth screamed and shivered, wailed and almost pleaded, but she stopped herself.

She wasn't _that _weak, even to her worst fear.

As they fell toward the light, Annabeth saw Percy, falling nearby. How peaceful he looked…it almost seemed like he was floating to Annabeth.

Then she remembered he was there to help her. All she had to do was _wake him up_.

"Arachne, once again, you really didn't think this through," Annabeth said, trying to sound as confident as possible.

"Oh, really?" Arachne hissed.

She snapped her pincers and tightened her legs around Annabeth.

"Because _I _think that I'll just squish you like a bug, right here in my arms, and feed on your limp, lifeless carcass as you float away to the underworld, which, by now, probably, is _above us_, and you'll never see that little Son of Poseidon over there ever again. I'll keep him alive, just for that purpose. Treat him like a dog on a leash. Probably wrap a collar around his neck, too. How does _that _sound, Annabeth?" she spat as well as spiders could spit. "Because _that _sounds pretty _thought through _to ME!"

Annabeth threw up again but held in her tears. She watched her vomit float up past them, and realized a way to wake up Percy.

She'd have to beg him to forgive her later.

"What…" Annabeth hesitated, then gulped for dramatic effect before finishing, "_what _did you say you were going to do to me again?"

"I _said _I was going to feed on your carcass after I squished you to death like a bug in my arms," Arachne said, slightly confused. "Didn't I make that clear?"

But Annabeth didn't have time to answer, as she leaned in Percy's direction, willed it to be strong enough, and threw up.

It smacked Percy in the face and his eyes flew open.

The first thing he did was scream in disgust and wipe his face.

Then he called for Annabeth.

"PERCY! HELP ME!" she screeched, and Arachne hissed and mumbled, "I'm never doing anything you ask me to _ever _again, Daughter of Athena, I promise you _that_."

And in less than a second, Percy had Riptide drawn and had hacked off one of Arachne's legs.

She screeched and Annabeth struggled for a break through point.

_Fear will _not _rule me_, Annabeth thought as she squeezed her eyes shut, gritted her teeth, and fought her hardest to break free.

She finally busted out, and she was sent tumbling through the air.

She tried to look at what was happening, but she was caught in an endless roll of summer-salts and was starting to feel nauseous.

But, for just a second, she could see Percy, dodging a swing but Arachne and one of her remaining legs.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth saw the light below them, looking bigger than before, and sharply inhaled.

Staring up at them from the light were the silhouettes of hundreds of thousands of monsters, waiting for them.

"Percy!" Annabeth shrieked. "The light!"

And then Annabeth's head hit the wall of Tartarus, and she was knocked unconscious.

* * *

**NO, ANNABETH! WHYY?! **

**Oh yeah, because I said so. ;P!**

**Sorry, but I need to keep you hooked! **

**Thanks for Reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, everybody!**

**I think I'm doing a better job at updating than before! *knocks on wood* Let's hope I can keep it up!**

**Okay, now we're back from Tartarus (Dodges various trash), I'm sorry, geez! I know, it's a really big cliffhanger, so I'm sorry about that. But, we can't just neglect the folks on the Argo II, can we?**

**No, I didn't think so.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 4

Hazel

Hazel was fed up with everyone getting on Nico's case.

Of course, there were some things she had to admit.

Like, "Yes, Nico is different, but that doesn't mean that he's _bad_."

Or, "Yes, Nico was kidnapped by the giants, but that doesn't necessarily mean he had been there previously."

And finally, "Yes, Nico has done some pretty shady things through out his years, but he's my brother and you guys are just going to have to trust my judgment."

And, as Hazel left the dining room to go take a shower, she thought of one more confession.

_What if my judgment is lacking? _

She shook the feeling quickly, however, and decided it was best to assume that Nice was on the good side and left it at that.

After her shower, hazel changed into a purple t-shirt and black jeans and left her shoes and socks off.

She wandered onto the deck and saw Leo working the controls.

He was picking a new song and furiously pressing the "A" and "B" button on his Wii controller while pushing the joy stick on the Nunchuck forward.

"What are you doing?" Hazel asked.

Leo flipped a switch on the dashboard and muttered, "Trying to recalibrate the ship. It won't change course."

"Then why don't you just turn auto-pilot off and drive it yourself?" Hazel asked.

"I can't do that, either. It's like the ship is completely undermining my authority." Leo scowled, then turned to Hazel and said, "I don't like it."

Hazel looked around the dashboard and saw a red and blue blinking light.

Hazel saw a switch above it turned on, and it was labeled, "AUTO-LOCK".

"What's auto-lock?" Hazel asked.

"It's when the auto-pilot is locked on and the coordinates can't be changed, and auto-pilot can't be turned off," Leo muttered as he picked the new song and did is combination of button-pressing again.

Hazel flipped the switch and the lights died. "Now try changing the course."

Leo pressed the z-button on the nunchuck and pulled the joy stick back, then created a playlist with thirteen different songs on it.

Festus made a whole bunch of clicking noises, and Leo said, "I know, I know, buddy, but just try to make it smooth, okay?"

Leo turned to Hazel. "Thanks! How did you do it?"

"I turned auto-lock off," she replied.

"It was on?" he asked. "Huh."

Suddenly, the ship made a sharp turn and Leo and hazel went flying and smashed into the rail of the ship.

The ship leveled itself out and Hazel groaned and stood up.

Festus sent out lots of whirls and clicks that sounded like laughter.

Hazel stood up and shouted, "HEY, WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU? WHAT WAS THAT FOR? You could have thrown Leo overboard! Would you have liked that?"

Festus sent out a low whirl that sounded like, _Nooooooo..._

"Then what do you have to say for yourself?" she called.

He sent out some more whirls, clicks, and squeaks that sounded like, _Sour-ree, Ah-zul_.

"It's okay. I forgive you." she smiled up at him.

He sent out a couple more whirls, and Hazel laughed slightly.

She suddenly remembered Leo and looked over at the rail.

He was lying kind of still in a crumpled heap on the floor in front of the rail.

"No. No, no, no..." Hazel whispered and ran to him. She knelt beside him and checked his pulse.

_Beating_, she thought, relieved. She also noticed his chest was rising up and down slowly. He had been knocked unconcious by the blowwhen they fell against the rail.

Suddenly, Jason, Piper (who's hair was damp for some reason), and Frank were on deck. Frank gasped, "What...happened?"

"I was showering when the ship turned!" Piper complained. "I almsot hit my head on the shower head!"

"It's okay, we're all alright," Jason said.

"Not Leo," Hazel said. "We hit the rail, and I guess he hit his head or something, because he's unconcious now."

"What?" Piper asked and ran and knelt next to Hazel.

"Shoot," Jason muttered. "What are we supposed to do now? Are we still on course for Greece?"

"No," Hazel replied as Piper tried to chamrspeak Leo awake.

It was making Hazel feel more awake, actually, so she got up and walked over to Jason and Frank. "He changed course. That's why we turned."

Suddenly, the ship shuddered and Festus whirled and clicked urgently.

"Are we turning again?" Frank asked.

_At-tack! At-tack! _Festus clicked.

"Attack," Hazel whispered. She drew her sword and looked around. "Get ready guys. It's time for a fight."

* * *

**OR, time for a cliffhanger! XP!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter will be very surprising...:P!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, everybody! This is about the fastest I've updated in quite some time, so I hope you guys appreciate it!**

**This chapter and next chapter are going to be action, so I hope you're ready! Also, I want to point out that I don't have an actualy "perspective wheel" like I did with my MoA, I'm just going to pick a person that best goes with the current scenerio. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 5

Jason

Jason didn't know what was scarier; the fact that a pack of flying pigs that breathed fire and had orange hair on their heads, or the fact that the Argo II was having trouble staying in the air.

They had split up into two groups. The first group started swooping down, trying to kick the crew in the heads, while the other group flew under the ship and rocked it, trying to throw it off course and drop us out of the sky.

"We were too late!" Hazel shouted. "We're in Greek territory!"

"Since when were flying boars with orange hair Greek creatures?!" Frank shouted.

Jason had to agree. He was confused and afraid, but he couldn't understand how to keep the ship in the air. Leo was out cold still, and he was really the only one who knew how to keep the ship up.

"What are we going to do?" Piper asked.

"Keep them, Piper! I have an idea!" Jason said, an idea coming to him as he started acting it.

"You don't want to hurt us," Piper called out to the pigs. "We're your friends!"

One of the pigs came from behind and tried to hit her, but Frank shot it out of the sky and it died on the deck.

Jason flew up and conjured some lightning. He shot at the pigs under the boat and they squealed or wailed and fell out of the sky, plummeting to the earth far below them.

These things were not going to stop them from getting to Camp.

He looked up and saw Frank, mouthing at him and waving his arms. Jason flew in and asked, "What?"

"These things are _alive_! Look, I shot one and it didn't turn to dust!" Frank said frantically. "What do we do?"

"We kill them…and then we keep them, I guess. We might end up eating them, who knows. We should see what Leo thinks when he wakes up," Jason sighed.

"But…they're _alive_." Piper whispered. "Someone _did _this to them. Jason, what's happening?"

"I don't know. All we can do is figure this out _after _we save our skin. Frank, put that someplace safe. We'll take a live one, too, just for judgment." Jason ordered and Frank dragged the dead pig away.

Jason was about to fly off again when all of a sudden the ship lurched to the left.

He stumbled and fell, and then shot himself toward the rail by mistake.

Suddenly, there were hands on his shoulders that pulled him away from the rail again.

"Thanks," Jason whispered.

"No problem," Piper replied. "Now, get back up there and fight!"

Piper continued to try to charmspeak the pigs, while Jason shot back up into the air and shot lightning at the pigs underneath.

Suddenly, Jason was rammed in the back and he went soaring through the sky across the boat.

Piper shouted, "Jason, duck!" just in time for Jason to crash into another pig that kicked him down toward the ship's deck with such force that slammed into the deck with his shoulder.

He gasped out in pain and grimaced as he sat up.

Piper knelt beside him and said, "What can I do?"

"Ambrosia. Then, start fighting." was all he said.

Piper nodded and ran off the deck to find the necessary material.

Jason looked around and saw Frank shoot at the pigs from far away, and Hazel fighting off all the pigs that got past his arrows.

Jason shot at the pigs on the other side of the ship with lightning, using his good arm.

He looked around, and then he saw the pig that hit him in the back. He knew because it was flapping around in circles, and his mouth was opening and closing quietly as if it was laughing.

"The circling one," Jason shouted to Frank.

Frank looked back at him, confused.

"That's the one we take alive."

Piper ran up at just that moment and fed him some ambrosia. He was able to feel his arm beginning to heal.

"I have an idea!" Hazel shouted. "Piper, come take my spot!" and Hazel dashed off toward the control panel.

"You okay on your own?" Piper asked.

Jason nodded.

She smiled.

He smiled.

Then she ran off to help Frank.

Jason looked around some more and realized something very important.

_Where's Leo?_

* * *

**DUN DUN DUUHH! Leo's missing! I can't believe it! How could this happen?**

**Oh yeah. I know. }:)**

****HOLD-UP MOMENT****

**Kimmie: Okay, so I'd like to comment on your current performances.**

**Jason: Hey, when can my arm be healed?**

**Kimmie: LATER. Now, Frank, you're doing well. Leo, your unconscious performance was fantastic.**

**Leo: Thank you, very much.**

**Kimmie: Piper, look. You need to be more...how can I say this...**

**Piper: I'm waiting.**

**Kimmie: Less dipsy and more warrior.**

**Piper: _Excuse _me?**

**Kimmie: You're waiting on Jason to tell you what to do, and you're always getting over emotional about him.**

**Piper: So what do you _suggest _I do?**

**Kimmie: Just become your own person! Be strong and be fierce, but don't be overpowering.**

**Piper: So, be strong...okay, I understand that.**

**Kimmie: (beaming) Great! So, no killing me this time?**

**Piper: Nah, we're good.**

**Kimmie: Annabeth, I want you to know exactly what you guys are up against so I can help you with your reaction.**

**Annabeth: Alright. Talk to me.**

**Kimmie: Well...**

****KIMMIE TALKS TO ANNABETH (I wouldn't spoil it for you guys!)****

**Annabeth: Okay, I think I got it. Thanks for the tips, Kimmie! (Leaves)**

**Percy: What about me?**

**Kimmie: I never have your POV, and you're doing a great job. So, I don't really need to talk to you.**

**Percy: Well, can I know what you told Annabeth?**

**Kimmie: I want you to be surprised. (winks)**

**Percy: Alright. Fine.**

****END OF HOLD-UP****

**Thanks for Reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone!**

**I'm so so SO sorry it took me so long ot update, I was on vacation and I couldn't get internet! I'm sorry, again!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 6

Annabeth

The first thing Annabeth did when she woke up was scream.

"Hey!" Percy yelled. "You just scared me to death!"

Annabeth sat up. Then she realized she could _sit up_. They were on solid ground.

But…_how_?

"Percy…did we make it through the light?" she looked over at him.

He was carving in the ground with the tip of Riptide. He muttered, "No, thanks to you. You called for me, and I swear that was all I needed. I saw all the monsters and I didn't know exactly what to do at first. But then I saw you crash into the wall, and I tried my best to get to you, which I did. We were close to the wall, and I saw that there were ledges above us. Then I looked down and saw that a small section of the light circle was dark, and I realized that there was a ledge above us. So, I cut your leg free of Arachne's silk and I fought her off as we fell. And then, we hit the ledge, she continued to fall, and I was knocked unconscious. I woke up sometime ago. Then you just scared me to death by waking up and screaming."

"Sorry, last time I was conscious we were in danger and I guess that was my reflex," she sighed and crawled over to him.

He was scratching a picture into the dirt.

"What is it?" Annabeth asked.

"It's supposed to be a map. See, the 'x' is us, and the arrows are our options," Percy rubbed above his eyebrow and continued to etch another arrow into the dirt.

"What's that one?" she asked, pointing to an arrow the made them cross Tartarus.

"There's a ledge across from us that's below our current one. I'm thinking that maybe it's like a step ladder. If we can propel ourselves far enough, we could make it across until we're right up against the creatures below and see if there's an opening to go down. The Doors of Death are down there, so there has to be a way." Percy looked over at Annabeth.

There were lots of dirt streaks all over his forehead. His shirt was ripped and his hair was disheveled and it looked like it was slightly colored…

Annabeth reached a hand up and touched the back of his head. She touched something sticky and wet and drew her hand back.

Her hand was covered in black liquid, and she knew instantly that it was blood.

"Percy, you're bleeding," she said. "We need to do something about it."

He shook his head. "I'll be fine."

"No, you won't be. Do you have anything I could use? Nectar? Ambrosia? A needle and thread?"

"I don't think I need stitches, Annabeth. It's not that serious. I guess if you tried to stop the bleeding, then it would scab over and heal. But, with what?" he suggested.

Annabeth took Riptide out of Percy's hand and cut her left sleeve off.

"Annabeth, what are you doing?" Percy asked, panicked. He moved over to her and there noses were almost touching.

She shushed him and folded the small piece of cloth in half in her palm. She slowly pressed her hand against the back of his head and applied pressure.

He winced slightly and she shushed him again. She stared into his sea green eyes and smiled.

"Why are you smiling?" he asked quietly. "It feels like the end of the world to me."

"It's only the end of the world if I'm not with you, Seaweed Brain. We'll make it through this together." She leaned in and she kissed him.

He put his hand on top of her hand that rested on the back of his head and then pulled away.

"You're hand is sticky with blood, Annabeth. Let me handle this," he said.

"And let yourself bleed out, Seaweed Brain?" she said. "I don't think so. Are you _trying _to bring me to the end of the world?"

He smiled. "Not in this lifetime."

He kissed her this time, and then when he pulled away he said, "You know, I think you're right. We'll get through this."

"I'm glad you think so," she smiled. "Now, let's see some more of your plans."

"Glad to share with you," he replied, and pointed to another arrow.

They talked for a little while about plans and probability of positive outcomes.

"I honestly don't think doing a swan dive into Tartarus will do anything except cause us both to be eaten by monsters." Annabeth sighed.

"Okay then," Percy said, and scratched, "Swan Dive into Tartarus" off the list they'd made to correspond with the lines he'd already drawn.

"I keep going back to that ladder thing," Percy said, scratching his head.

"But how are we going to push ourselves across?" she asked him.

He thought for a second, but then he said, "Maybe we don't have to."

He crawled over to the edge and looked down.

He looked back at Annabeth and smiled. "There's a ledge below us, just like I thought! We can jump down on this one to the next one below instead of across!"

"As long as we don't get sucked down by Tartarus again, I'll do it," Annabeth agreed as she crawled up next to him.

"Okay, all you have to do," Percy said as he looked over at her, "is hang from the ledge, then swing yourself into the wall and slide down the wall until you hit the next ledge. Can you do that?"

She looked at him and very seriously, she said, "Seaweed Brain, the worry here has never been if _I _can do something."

Percy laughed, and then he disappeared over the edge of the ledge.

Annabeth crawled over and hung on, breathing a little harder, and looked down.

Percy was sitting on the ledge below. He suddenly stood up and held his arms out to her.

She took a slow breath, then swung her legs forward and let go.

She hit the wall with her legs first. It felt like Tartarus was dragging her down, until she it the ledge below on her feet, hit her head on the wall again, fell to her knees and collapsed as Percy ran up beside her and asked, "Annabeth?"

She blinked, saw the Percy's face was being surrounded by blackness, and lost consciousness.

* * *

**Okay, so you're probably wondering, "What? Why did she change to Percy and Annabeth when she was in the middle of a fight on the ship?" and then you would throw a table and shout, "I WANT ANSWERS!"**

**Well, I got a death-threat review from a guy named Simply Cool and he told me he would kill me if I didn't post this chapter as Percabeth.**

**I HOPE YOU'RE SATISFIED WITH MY WORK, SIMPLY COOL!**

**THANKS FOR READING And I'm not quite sure why I'm still shouting...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, everyone!**

**Sorry it's taken me so long to update my story, I've just had a lot on my mind lately. (Sobbing) I have a life, too, you know! (More sobbing)**

**I'm kidding, I'm kidding, but I hve had a busy schedule lately, so sorry!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 7

Leo

Leo had never experienced something like this before.

One minute, he had been flung against the railing, and the next, his precious ship was being attacked by flying pigs with orange hair!

And then he'd realized he could _see _the ship in the distance.

And then he realized he was hanging from a leg of one of the pigs.

Leo panicked at first, but then he'd gotten his head together and climbed on top of the pig and had started riding.

At this point, he had jumped from pig to pig about ten times, and now he was riding a pig with a broken foot.

He saw another lightning bolt jolt through the sky, and he steered his squealing pig away from it.

Another bolt shook the sky and flashed in front of them, and Leo's pig freaked out and started squealing and flying in circles.

Leo realized this pig was to traumatized to move anymore.

"Goodbye, Senor Pigington. You were a good steed," Leo said, and he stood as carefully as he could on Senor Pigington's back and looked around for another pig to ride.

And then he saw a pig wiz past him, and he realized that the pig kept opening and closing its jaw, like it was laughing.

_That pig will be mine! _Leo thought and when it began to wiz past again, Leo leapt of Senor Pigington and grabbed the back of The Laughing Pig.

"I will name you," Leo said as he pulled himself up onto the pig's back, "Laughing Pig. I'll call you LP for short."

He steered the pig toward the ship's deck, and suddenly another lightning bolt struck right in front of their path.

But, instead of freaking out like all the other pigs, LP just continued to open and close its mouth and flew around the spot the bolt had just pierced through.

Leo looked down and saw someone gasp from the deck, and he saw Hazel glancing up at him, pointing to him and looking back at Jason and Piper, her mouth moving furiously.

He waved to them and smiled gleefully.

Another lightning bolt sparked right next them, but LP just drifted in the opposite direction and opened and closed its mouth over and over again.

"GUYS, DON'T SHOOT AT ME!" Leo shouted down to them.

Leo watched as Hazel and Piper talked to each for a minute. It seemed that Hazel was yelling something to Piper, and Piper didn't seem to quite understand, but then suddenly Hazel ran for the edge of the ship, climbed up on the rail, and jumped off.

Frank screamed, and Leo could hear it from up in the clouds: "HAZEL! NO!"

Leo watched, horrified, as Hazel wrapped her arms around the back of a flying pig passing by.

Leo steered LP down to her as best as possible, and when he pulled up slightly far away from her, he shouted, "Don't put you knee into its side! It will lurch forward and you will fall off!"

"Okay!" Hazel called to him.

But, of course, as Hazel tried to pull herself up onto its back, she accidently dug her knee into its side.

It squealed and lurched forward, and Hazel slipped off with a short scream.

Leo sent LP spiraling like a torpedo after her.

He flew under her, and he grabbed Hazel and leveled out, flying back into the sky.

He pulled her close to him, and realized he was holding her around the waist. (**AN: Remember when this happened in my version of MoA? Not with the pigs, but with the ladder?**)

Then he realized how close their faces were.

There was an awkward silence between them, and Hazel turned away first.

Leo cleared his throat, and then pulled Hazel onto LP in front of him. He whispered in her ear, "Hold onto his neck and steer him by tapping the sides of his neck or the top of his head."

Leo wrapped his arms around her waist as she asked, "What does that do?"

"Left side of his neck makes him turn to the left. Right side of his neck makes him turn to left, but the top of his head makes him go down. He levels himself out, it's okay." Leo said.

Hazel nodded, and some of her curly brown hair pushed itself in his face. It smelled like soap and sweat.

Suddenly, LP jerked to left, away from the ship, and Hazel squeaked slightly and muttered, "No, no, go the _other _way!"

Leo traced his hands down her arm until their arms were lined up. He held her hands in his and steered Laughing Pig through Hazel.

They whizzed past the ship's deck and Jason shouted, "Lead him down onto the deck!"

As they did a full circle around the ship, Leo tapped LP on the top of the head, and he did a barrel roll down the deck, making Leo cheer.

He could barely hear Hazel mutter, "I think I'm going to be sick!"

LP pulled up on the deck and clattered to a stop. Hazel got off and stumbled around the deck, looking dizzy.

Frank ran up and caught her just as she fell.

Jason came over to them, holding his shoulder, and Piper came behind him, asking him, "Are you _sure _you're okay?"

"I'll be okay, Piper, I promise," he said, and then he looked down at LP.

He didn't seem to be laughing anymore.

Leo hopped off his piggy friend and rubbed his neck nervously. "Why are you staring at him like that?"

"Because he broke my shoulder!" Jason said, rather loudly.

"What? No! LP wouldn't do that!" Leo said, stepping in between Jason and his pig.

"No offense, Leo," Frank said, and Leo looked over at him, "but you've only known the pig for, like, a minute."

"LP?" Piper asked.

"Laughing Pig," Leo replied, glaring at Frank.

"And why do you think he's laughing, Leo?!" Jason asked, annoyed.

Leo opened his mouth to answer, but Jason answered his own question. "Because he just finished slamming me into the deck and _breaking my shoulder_!"

He was shocked to find his friendly steed accused with such a crime. "Is that true, LP?"

LP opened his mouth and closed it again, then looked away.

Leo felt betrayed. "So…what do we do about him?"

"We compare him to the dead one and see what they're made of," Jason said sternly, staring at LP with disdain.

Leo thought Jason could have spit on him right then, but then he looked up and Leo and said, "Take him to the stables. You can say your goodbyes on the way. Keep the door closed, and make sure you lock it."

Leo nodded reluctantly. "What can I lead him with?"

"Your hands," Jason replied.

"I'll…I'll check the ship," Hazel muttered.

"Oh, so you flip a switch and talk to Festus and suddenly you're a ship captain?" Leo asked playfully.

"Festus seems to like me, so maybe he'll help," Hazel replied, and walked off to the deck to play with Leo's Wii Remotes.

And Leo sighed and herded his piggy pig down to the stables.

* * *

**Aw...when I wrote this part it made me feel like Hagrid in _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askiban _when he told them Buckbeak had been sentenced to death when he's skipping stones in the lake...what will happen to Laughing Pig?**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**OH! And please, please, PLEASE vote on the pole on my profile! Thanks Again!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I will apologize in advance for the shortness of this chapter!**

**I've been so busy writing my one-shot _What Happens to Love _that I didn't get any chapters done for this! **

**And I knew you guys were waiting, so I decided to write a quick one to keep you guys occupied while I thought of a really good one for you!**

**Sorry Again, and Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 8

Annabeth

Annabeth's head was throbbing when she woke up.

She groaned, sat up, rubbed her head, and looked around. Percy was dead asleep on the ledge, snoring quietly. It looked like he'd fell asleep during watch: Riptide was uncapped in his hand, and he had his hand pressed against the back of his head.

That's when Annabeth remembered the bleeding.

She crawled over to him and shook, him, scared.

There was no possible way the piece of her sleeve had survived the fall when Percy jumped off the ledge. His wound was probably bleeding openly now.

She wiggled her hand in between his hand and head, and left around for the wound.

She could feel blood drying on the palm of his hand, and his hair hard and stuck together in clumps from the drying blood, but not fresh blood was oozing.

Percy stirred at that moment and looked up at her. "You're awake."

"Yeah," Annabeth replied. "I really should stop hitting my head."

"My head wound has closed, Annabeth," Percy sat up.

She moved her hand and said, "I'm not surprised, Seaweed Brain, seeing how little you use it, I'm sure it had _plenty _of time to heal."

Percy laughed and kissed her.

She pulled away and crawled over to look over the edge of the ledge.

She could see the silhouetted monsters clearly now. It looked like there were hydras and Cyclopes and a lot of demons.

There were other monsters Annabeth couldn't make out, but there was one thing she was positively sure of.

They all had bright yellow eyes.

At least, that was what it looked like.

Annabeth crawled away from the edge. _I don't want to be scared anymore_, she thought as she crawled back over to Percy. _So what do we do about it?_

"Okay, so I was right before," Percy told her. "There is another ledge below us. I was looking for an opening and any other monsters that might be flying by here anytime, but then I fell asleep, I guess."

"Did you find any?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, a couple flying pigs fell from the whole, they had orange hair, it was the weirdest thing, but other wise, no." Percy said.

"I meant an opening, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said and she whacked him on the shoulder.

"No," Percy chuckled. "But we're not close enough anyway."

"How much closer do we have to go?" Annabeth asked, looked back over toward the edge.

"I'd say until there was only one ledge separating us from the monsters below. That we have time to actually jump and make it through the hole," Percy sketched a person doing a swan dive off the ledge and an arrow in to the light in the ground with Riptide.

"Ah," Annabeth looked at it. "I see. Please tell me I don't have to swan dive."

Percy chuckled again. "No, you don't. But I will."

Annabeth looked back over toward the edge of the ledge. "How far away are we from our goal?"

"Um, maybe ten ledges?" Percy looked across Tartarus.

"Then those monsters must be huge," Annabeth sighed. "Percy, I don't want to do this."

"We have to close those doors," Percy told her, and he tucked a loose piece of her hair behind her ear. "We have to stop Gaea."

"Sometimes, I just wish I was normal," Annabeth sighed, looking away from him.

"And miss all the fun?" Percy said loudly, gesturing to nothingness around them.

Annabeth smiled at him.

"Well, I can tell you, I definitely don't want to be normal," Percy said.

"So you can plunge into Tartarus everyday?" Annabeth asked teasingly.

Percy smiled at her. "So I can be with you."

They kissed again, and then Percy crawled over the ledge and said, "Let's get jumping."

They climbed over and let go together his time. Annabeth knew they were special, and knew they were together. She wasn't scared anymore.

She really didn't need to be.

* * *

**As long as they have each other...:)**

**Okay, there was also one thing I wanted to address.**

**I got a review from a person named my bff is a vampire freak** **and he or she said: YOU'RE NOT THIER CREATOR! RICK RIORDAN IS! YOU THIEF! YOU MUST HAVE STOLEN THEM! HOW COULD YOU?! About my disclaimer in chapter 2**

**Well, I wanted this person to know that I have my own characters. Rick Riordan interpruts them one way, and I another. The may have the same name, but they are not the same people. Do you see the way Piper acts? Not like the Piper you know, I'm sure.**

**So, what I guess I'm trying to say is, they're my version of these characters, and I can tell you that the real ones are still out there being exactly who they are. ;)**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, everybody!**

**Wow, two chapters in one day! I guess I'm on fire today!**

**I'm actually trying to make a come-back, for taking forever to start this story and taking forever to post some chapters (even though I was recently writing a short story, which is why I wasn't updating this! You should read it, it's called _What Happens to Love_!) so, I'm going to try to make a schedule for myself!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 9

Hazel

Just because Festus _wanted _to help, doesn't mean that he did.

Hazel tried to steer the ship correctly, but she really had no idea what she was doing.

Festus tried to speak to her, but she couldn't understand him like Leo could.

And Leo was below deck, saying goodbye to his pig.

She checked the GPS and saw that she was basically on course to Camp, but after being in Rome, it was going to take a long time to get there.

Hazel didn't want to break the ship, so after trying for a couple seconds, she gave up and walked off. "Sorry, Festus, I just don't understand."

She walked below deck and looked for Leo down in the stables. She walked up to the door to see Leo look depressed, leaning against the door.

"Hey," Hazel walked up to him. "What's wrong?"

"He's only so young!" Leo whimpered. "They're going to dissect him! I know they are…I don't want him to die!"

"Oh, Leo," Hazel tried to think of something that could take his mind of his piggy companion. "What have you figured out with Archimedes's Sphere?"

Leo perked up right away. "So many things! I even found something that would make Coach Hedge excited!"

"Well, what kind of stuff?" Hazel asked.

"It's a universal remote! And if you press a certain button, it turns into a screen! I'm not quite sure what the screen is supposed to do yet, but I'll be happy when I'm figuring out what it does! And, as you saw already, it can control other machines and stuff…Now if only it could be a microwave," Leo sighed. "I'm going to go back to my room now and try to decipher more parts of this puzzle."

"Okay, Leo," Hazel said as he passed by her.

"Don't let them hurt LP too badly, okay?" Leo called back to her.

"I'll try. Feel better," Hazel added, and Leo sulked down the hall.

She sighed and decided to take a look through the window in the door at the pig that had helped Leo save her life.

He was zipping around the room, his mouth hanging open, smashing against the glass bottom of the stable. It looked like he was trying to get out.

Hazel felt really sorry for the poor pig. She turned the lock and was about to open the door, when he slammed head first into the glass window.

Hazel was taken by surprise and jumped back. She closed the door and turned to leave. She didn't want to see the pig get hurt anymore, but what could she do? She wasn't Piper, she couldn't charmspeak it into being calm.

She left, not looking back, feeling sorry for the poor animal.

What _was _Jason planning on doing to it? She had to know.

She found Jason hanging out on deck with Piper. They were talking and looking out over the clouds. She approached and heard part of their conversation.

"…mean it," Piper sighed. "It was just…"

"Deceitful and annoying," Jason said angrily. "I _still _can't believe it!"

"It's all over now, Jason. Just drink the nectar. It will heal."

Hazel interjected, "What are you going to do to it?"

Jason turned around. "Hey, Hazel."

"What are you planning on doing to LP?" Hazel asked.

"Hazel, it's not going to be _so _bad," Jason started.

"Why?" Piper asked.

"Leo is really worried about him, plus the pig helped save my life," Hazel countered.

"If you hadn't jumped off the ship, it wouldn't have needed to save you're life," Piper replied. "You really should choose, Hazel. It's really getting annoying watching either Leo or Frank get hurt."

"What?" Hazel asked.

"They both like you, it's really pretty obvious, and you are torn in between. You made the commitment to Frank, however, so you either honor that commitment and stay with him or move on and date Leo," Piper huffed. "It's choose and move on with it!"

Piper turned and stalked off the deck. She called to Jason and said, "Just keep drinking the nectar, it'll heal!"

Once she was out of earshot, Hazel took her place against the railing and asked, "Shoulder?"

He nodded.

"She's right, though," Hazel said.

"Yeah, it'll heal, but she's not completely right," Jason replied. "She just feels like she knows what it's like, being chosen from out of two, but she really doesn't. I met her, and I chose her. I wasn't torn or anything. In her mind, she just doesn't want anyone else to get hurt the way she did." Jason put air quotes around, "the way she did."

"Yeah, that was always my understanding of the story, too," Hazel sighed and placed her forehead on the rail. "But that was still a little extreme, even if I'm wrong."

"Yeah, I found out earlier she's PMSing. Don't worry about it, it's not your fault," Jason smiled at her. "Don't tell her I told you, okay? You're the only other girl on the ship, so she kind of feel like she _has _to fight with you. If Annabeth were here, it would be different, but…she's not, so Piper just has to take what she can get."

"What…what _are _you going to do to LP?" Hazel asked, picking her forehead up and resting her chin down on the rail.

"Well, we're going to check out its insides," Jason confessed.

Hazel jumped off the rail. "You can't! Leo will be heartbroken!"

"He doesn't have to be there!" Jason countered. "And we took a dead one, too. We just need to know what's inside of them, see what they are if they aren't animals."

"If it's not an animal, then why does it act so much like an animal?" Hazel asked.

"That's what we want to know," Jason replied.

He rested his elbow on the deck and recoiled sharply, breathing through his gritted teeth.

"You really shouldn't move it so much, Jason. Maybe we could make a sling and a splint, or," Hazel offered.

"Maybe," Jason sighed. "But I don't need it now. It'll heal."

"Jason, broken shoulders don't just…_heal_. It'll take time, even with nectar."

"I get it, I get it!" Jason said, frustrated. "Thanks, Hazel, but I have to go now." And he walked off deck, holding his arm just below his shoulder.

Hazel looked back at the sky. Night was falling, and the sky was a gray blue. Hazel sighed and muttered, "I didn't know PMS was contagious."

She pulled away from the rail and stared out at the transparent gray wisps of clouds passing in front of her.

She reached her hand out and touched one. Her hand passed right through it, like mist, leaving her hand slightly damp.

She pressed her palms on the rail and sighed.

"Maybe she was right," Hazel said, looking over her shoulder at the entrance to the deck. She looked back over at the clouds. "I…I need to choose. This is stressful for all three of us. I don't know how Leo feels, to be honest, but…I really only need to know how _I _feel."

Hazel didn't want anyone to hear her. She knew no one could hear. She kept talking.

"I think…I think I'll choose…_soon_. Sooner, rather than later. But…_after _LP's dissection. I want Leo to know there is someone there for him for that…but who knows, really? I could be there for him forever. Or, as long as I live," Hazel decided.

Then she backed away from the rail, and left the deck, went into her room, and fell asleep on her bed.

Then, she remembered something.

Some_one_, actually.

She sat bolt upright in bed.

_Where is Nico_?!

* * *

**DUN DUN DUUHH! Cliffhanger!**

**Well, I just want to say something to you about my story updating schedule.**

**I'm going to try to put up at least one chapter every Thursday until I have twenty chapters. Then I'm thinking of taking a week break (to sort out my other stories and see what I will be doing with them!)**

**Yeah, starting this week, every Thursday! I know, you all are probably thinking, "Three chapter in a week? What, is she crazy?" **

**Well, yes, I am, but that's beside the point.**

**The point is, I'm trying to teach myself that no matter what the circumstances, I _have _to keep updating! So, see you Thursday!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, everyone!**

**It's my first update Thursday! Yay! This chapter is kind of...how do I put this...short and...angry, I guess. Lots of yelling. And cursing is implied.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 10

Jason

Jason didn't need the sling. Or the splint, or anything that would make him look weak. He was strong. He was the leader, and he was going to be strong, shattered shoulder or not.

He walked up to the stables and decided to take the pig and get ready for testing.

He went and pressed his face against the glass window and saw that the stable was empty. He opened the door and realized that it had been unlocked.

"Leo," he hissed. He turned on his heel, closing the door and locking it behind him, just in case the stupid pig was playing a trick on him, and stalked off to Leo's room.

_Of course he would have let him out. Maybe he didn't even _take _the pig to the stables, but let him out anyway_. Jason thought angrily.

He kicked the door open and Leo jerked back from what he was working on, Jason was too angry to care, and he hissed, "How could you?"

"Jason, man, I don't know what you're talking about," Leo said. "But you could knock next time-"

Jason came so close to him and snarled, "Don't give me orders, you traitor! How could you let him go!"

"What?" Leo swallowed, trying to get away from him but he couldn't. "Look, man, I'm upset about what you're planning for LP, but I didn't-"

"Shut _up_," Jason hissed.

"What did I _do_?!" Leo squeaked.

"You. Let. That _stupid _pig. Out. Of. The. STABLE!" Jason yelled in Leo's face at the end, and backed away from him, frustrated and furious.

"What? No I didn't!" Leo protested. "I haven't been down there since I put him away! Hazel was down there for a minute, but-"

"Don't blame anyone but yourself for this, Leo," Jason said.

"I didn't do anything! I've been in here since I stashed him away in the stable because _you _wanted revenge!" Leo got out of his seat and walked up to Jason.

Jason turned around and glared at Leo. "This is about figuring out what these pigs _are _Leo. Not me, not you, not _revenge_, but the safety of your precious ship. So, if I were you, I wouldn't rub me wrong. Which one's more important to you, the ship or the pig?"

"You could have had any pig you wanted out of that sky!" Leo cried. "You could have any pig, but you picked LP because he hit you? That's like murdering a person for-"

"It's a freak'n _pig _Leo!" Jason shouted. "It's _definitely _not a person, and we're not even quite sure that it's even a _real _pig!"

"JUST SHUT UP AND STAY OUT OF MY WAY!" Leo hollered.

"Whoa," a voice said from the doorway.

Jason spun back around and Leo looked over at the door.

Hazel was standing there, looking at the door, which had accidently been torn off of its top hinge, and looked back over at the two of them. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a serious problem."

"What?" Leo asked. Jason was too angry to trust himself to speak to Hazel without lashing out. What Leo said was still ringing in his mind: _Hazel was down there for a minute, but- _

"Nico is missing," Hazel said, and Jason was snapped back into the situation.

"What?" Leo asked, running over to her.

Once they were close, Leo didn't really seem to know what to do, and Hazel seemed just as confused. He backed away awkwardly and Jason covered up the awkward silence by saying, "What do you mean he's 'missing'?"

"I mean he's literally not on the ship anymore. Did you see him during the pig fight? Did you see him afterward? Were you guys even _thinking _about him?" Hazel accused nervously.

"I didn't," Jason confessed, not in the mood to sugar coat the situation any longer.

"Just because you two have some stupid rivalry doesn't mean that you can just ignore it when he's missing!" Hazel shouted.

"I'm not ignoring anything! How do you even know if he's not here, if the only thing you're going by is where he _wasn't_?!" Jason shouted back.

"You're awful, Jason Grace!" Hazel shouted and stalked out of the room, away from both of them.

"Second time today, huh, buddy?" Leo asked, saying "buddy" with obvious sarcasm.

"Second what?" Jason snarled, daring him to come after him.

"Second time you've wrongly accused someone and make them _hate _you!" Leo replied.

Leo stepped back in his room, and whispered, "Leave. Now."

Jason ran out of the room, his shoulder throbbing, and slammed himself in his room.

He kicked his bed frame, cursed, screamed, cursed some more, and punched his wall. He almost blew the ship out of the sky with a lightning bolt, but he decided better of it and sunk down on his bed.

He didn't want to do nothing. He wanted to do something. He wanted to do something important.

_Let's get on with this dissection_, he thought bitterly and stood up.

He left his room and walked down the hall. He passed Leo, who was holding a new door hinge in his hand, and then he remembered why he was so pissed off at Leo, and remembered he _couldn't _do the dissection.

He kicked a wall and walked into the dining room. He sunk down in one of the chairs and thought.

"Okay," he muttered. "Leo is pissed at me, Hazel is pissed at me because she hasn't seen Nico in a while, and LP is missing."

Then, a thought dawned on him.

He sat back in his chair. "Wasn't Leo riding on the pigs? He didn't climb up there, though." Jason's eyes widened and he bolted from the room, running through the ship to Nico's.

It was empty, and Jason heart sunk. He finished his thought. "They took him."

* * *

**Oh no, poor Nico! I wonder where he is! Maybe he is lost somewhere?**

**Oh, wait...I already know where he is! ;P! Teehee!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey, everyone! It's another FanFiction Thursday, so it's time for another...CHAPTER!**

**I just read the new one-shot by Blondie B Happy, _Billow _and oh my gods...I'm so mixed up with my emotions right now! **

**So, in responce, I couldn't write a solid ending! You know what that means!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 11

Annabeth

Annabeth couldn't take it anymore.

The running, the fighting, the screaming, all with her broken ankle. Not going to work for Percy, and _definitely _not going to work for her.

As she swung the metal pipe she'd picked up, Percy came up behind the Echidna and stabbed it through its snake tail.

It screeched and turned to sand, screaming, "It's rude for a man to kill a lady, Perseus!" and finally disappeared.

Annabeth moved the pipe through the sand to scatter it and delay her return, and then Percy bent over and scooped her up in his arms, bridal style.

"Percy, carrying me this way will only slow you down," Annabeth groaned.

"I don't care," Percy grunted as he ran at a rather slow pace. "You're ankle could be completely destroyed, and it will be _all my fault_. I'm _not _going to do anything but carry you."

"That's really romantic and kind of scary," Annabeth said as an after thought, "but riding piggy back would probably be easier on both of us."

"Oh," Percy stopped running and helped her change positions. "Right."

Percy started running again as soon as Annabeth was comfortable, and Annabeth started thinking about why she did that _stupid _swan dive.

_"Come on, Annabeth!" Percy had said. "You can lean on me, and we can jump together!"_

_ Annabeth had started to protest, but Percy had said, "Oh, come on, Wise Girl, are you actually afraid to have fun?"_

_ So, Annabeth leaned against Percy like he was a life-saving crutch, scared to death of plunging into a sea full of monsters that probably want to kill them more than any other demigods, because they were probably the ones who put them there._

_ Roughly four years on the job partnered with Percy Jackson, hated by all monsters, Titans, and Underworlds alike._

So when Percy had told her he'd found a whole in what looked like the yellow flames, and he claimed he saw a regular light, almost white, they'd decided to do that stupid swan dive through the whole, right next to the monster masses.

And she hadn't wanted to do it, but Percy had done it anyway.

Annabeth's only lesson from this was: Say No to Peer Pressure.

They'd landed in what looked like a cave with an opening nearby. Annabeth had landed on her broken ankle, and now the bone was poking through her skin and Percy was feeling horrible about it.

She had been determined not to cry, but she couldn't have helped but scream. And that's when the Echidna had found them.

Percy had carried her out of the cave, running, and they'd run into a grassy field with holes in it here and there.

Percy had tripped over something sticking out of one of the holes, and Annabeth had protected her injured ankle by landing on her okay ankle and tucking in her injured leg and doing a could rolls until she landed on her back and came to an abrupt stop by the hole that made Percy trip.

A metal pipe was sticking out of it. Annabeth had tugged it out of the ground when the Echidna had caught up to them.

The grassy plains ended abruptly and cut into a desert. Percy's run slowed to a trot and the temperature seemed to rise fifty degrees. The sky was clear: no clouds anywhere, but there was no sun, no moon.

Actually, Annabeth couldn't be quite sure it was clear. It was a neutral shade of gray, and it hadn't changed yet.

They finally stopped moving when Percy began panting. He slumped down onto one knee, and Annabeth carefully protected her injured ankle and stepped onto the sand.

It seemed like it was a sponge. A tan sponge with no holes, just cracks. Lots of microscopic cracks.

She knelt down and touched the dirt with her hands. It felt like sand. Like dry, crusty, dusty sand.

"Percy, feel this," Annabeth whispered. "Doesn't it seem odd to you? What kind of land are we on?"

"Sand?" Percy said. "I thought we were in a desert?"

"I did, too," Annabeth sighed. "What do we do now?"

"Keep going."

So Annabeth climbed back onto Percy's back, despite her protests, and they walked along under the hot, gray sky.

Percy nearly collapsed.

"How many times do I have to tell you for you to finally get the message, Percy? Let me down! You're hurting yourself!" Annabeth said.

Percy reluctantly put her down, and she used him as a crutch and they hobbled along slowly together.

It had been hours, and they hadn't seen anything but the tan, dusty sand under their feet and the gray sky above them, which was starting to turn more black than gray.

"Percy, you need to rest! You've been walking for so long, you need a break!" Annabeth insisted.

"No," Percy gasped. He was sweating powerfully, but he wouldn't stop. "Not until we find you some help."

"Percy!" Annabeth said.

But he kept moving.

Annabeth had to do something or her boyfriend was going to work himself to death under this heat.

She stopped moving. He tried to move her, but she put her injured ankle on the ground.

The pain was terrible, but she needed Percy to stop.

"Annabeth, what are you doing? Stop!" Percy cried.

"Not until _you _stop, Percy. You're going to work yourself to death under this heat! It's not getting any cooler, so we need to rest!" Annabeth basically shouted.

"Annabeth," Percy came really close to her, their noses nearly touching, his voice a low whisper. His enchanting sea green eyes were filled to the brim of nothing but worry. "Please keep it down. We don't know what's in this desert."

"I'll be quiet if we rest," she whispered.

"When we find shelter from this heat and any danger," Percy agreed. "Until then, let's keep moving."

"No, we'll dig a hole and sleep in there," Annabeth said defiantly.

Percy sighed. "If we find anything in the hole, then we're moving."

Annabeth smiled. "Thank you, Seaweed Brain."

She kissed him, and she could taste the salty sweat on his lips.

They'd finally dug a hole around five feet deep and discovered that around two feet down, it turned into dirt.

Annabeth dug little hand and foot holds into the side of the pit so they could get out as she climbed down first.

She touched the bottom with her good foot and it felt a little squishy. She took off her shoe, and Percy called down, "Annabeth?"

"Yeah, I'm okay!" she called and pulled her sock off. "Just don't come down right now!"

She touched the ground with her bare foot and laughed slightly as her toes slid against squishy, muddy dirt.

"Percy, I think there's water under this layer of dirt!" she called up to him.

"WHAT?" and he was next to her in a minute. "What do you mean? And why is your shoe off?"

"Just feel the dirt!"

Percy knelt down and touched the damp dirt with his finger pads and he laughed. "Water! Finally!"

Percy started digging a small hole into the wet dirt, and Annabeth pried herself of the hold wall and knelt down next to him and helped him dig.

The water looked dark. Almost black, in the shadow of their bodies.

Percy cupped some in his hands and the pulled away, putting it in the light.

The water was crystal clear, and kind of a blue color.

"Isn't water usually clear? Like, completely clear?" Annabeth asked Percy as he stared hungrily at the water pooling in his hands and slowly seeping through his fingers and over the edges of his cupped hands when he moved.

"Can't we try it, Annabeth? Please?" Percy begged. "I need it! I'll rest, I promise!"

Annabeth gave in. "Fine, but if you get addicted to it, I'm cutting you off."

Percy smiled at her, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and then drank the water eagerly out of his hands.

He sighed and whispered, "That was so go-"

He started choking.

"_Percy_!" Annabeth cried, and ran to his side. She patted his back and tried to get the water out of him. "I told you! I _told _you not to drink the water!"

Then Percy fell back laughing, landing with his hair in the small water hole.

"You dirty little _skunk_, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth said, frustrated. "I thought you were dying!"

"I'm _fine_, Annabeth! Really, I'm fine," Percy sat back up, his laughter gone. "I'm sorry I made you so worried."

"Yeah, I would be, too, if I'd just made a daughter of Athena mad who knew where you kept your knife," Annabeth said, then she smiled at Percy's scared expression.

"Okay, I'm sorry, Wise Girl," Percy admitted. "I just need a little more water."

"I'll get it for you," Annabeth said. "You just rest."

As Annabeth crawled carefully over to the small water hole, and she gasped right before she put her hands in.

The water had turned from blue to red.

_Percy's head._

* * *

**NOOOOOOOO, PERCY, WHY? **

**Thanks for Reading and don't forget to vote on my poll on my profile! I really need your advice!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, everyone!**

**Before you get all mad at me about not updating on Thursday, I technically did update Thursday (Epilogue for What Happens to Love!) so, I just wanted to put this up...early, I guess. Yeah, because it's Sunday, it's early!**

**Um, kind of a filler chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 12

Leo

_How dare he? How _dare _he come into _my _room and accuse _me _of letting him go! I wanted him to be free, yeah, but that doesn't mean I could compromise the quality of this whole establishment, this whole _trust _thing we were building together, just to let a pig go that they might not have even been going to kill! Operating doesn't _always _mean murdering! _Leo thought angrily as he paced around his room. He'd fixed the door hinge in a couple seconds and now had nothing to do.

Sometimes Leo wished he was more of a novice with tools; maybe it would have taken him longer to replace the door hinge and he could have blown off some steam. He was even able to update all the hinges to silver metal instead of bronze and wired them to a remote.

All in a couple seconds.

He pressed the only blue button on the tiny remote again and the door closed once more.

He repeated this sequence every time he turned.

Turn left, door opens. Turn right, door closes.

_LP was special, sure, he helped me woo Hazel and save her life at the same time, which is huge. I don't think I'll ever get to say a pig helped me woo a girl again, so it's nice to know I can this time. But like I said, I wouldn't compromise this trust we were trying to build! How could we re-_

Leo's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shift in the ship, a loud creaking noise, and the ship not moving anymore.

There were lots of loud moving noises and booms coming from the hallway and down the hallway and up above him on the deck.

There was a sudden bang on his door and Leo jumped. Then Piper said, "Dude, there's no knob on this thing, how do you use it?"

Leo pressed the button and ran a hand through his hair. Piper jumped in and said excitedly, "We did it! We landed! We're going to camp, and then we're going to find Percy and Annabeth and then we're going to stop Gaea and everything is going to be okay! We made it to Camp, Leo. Leo made it…"

Leo smiled at her. "I'm happy you're excited. I'll grab some stuff from Bunker 9, if you'll help me."

"Um, last time I helped you with Bunker 9 stuff, I almost got eaten by Dionysus's Fan Club," Piper sighed.

"Don't worry, we're just grabbing some things. It's no big deal, really. I've never felt so out of place with my cabin mates before, but only the people who ride on this ship understand our process, and Jason pissed at me and Hazel will be with Frank and Nico…is missing, like Hazel said, and I need more arms than my own. Please?" Leo finished.

Piper waited for a second. "Leo, Jason is going to forgive you. I promise. Sure, I'll go."

Leo smiled. "Let's go."

"Now, tell me," Piper said as they left and Leo pressed the button on his door, "how long did it take you to do that to your door?"

"Couple seconds, maybe," Leo shrugs.

"How did you do it? I could use some privacy," Piper said.

Leo laughed, and then they climbed up onto the deck.

The sunlight was nearly blinding. Leo had forgotten how Camp Half-Blood had its own little weather system, basically.

Leo saw Jason leaning over the rail, sulking, and Hazel and Frank waving to the ground below.

Leo and Piper ran over next to Hazel and Frank and waved as well. They could see a whole bunch of people crowded down to meet them. It almost seemed like they were arriving in Rome all over again. Leo just hoped that this time there would be no eidolons possessing Leo and destroying their camp.

Leo swallowed a lump in his throat and continued smiling at the crowd.

It seemed like everyone was there, waiting, watching and cheering. Leo's ear drums could barely stand the volume of it all.

"Come on, let's go greet our friends," Piper said happily and took the lead in getting off the ship.

They were all greeted to loud cheering. Lots of the Hephaestus kids were milling around. Leo tried to call out to one, but then he heard a voice from behind him shout, "IT"S LEO!"

He was instantly under a dog pile of friendly laughter and happy cheering.

After they helped him up, Leo explained his mission to the others.

"All I'm saying is, is that I need as many celestial bronze things as you can find. I need anything that people won't miss, and I need it now. If it's not already in plate form then melt it down to plate form. Understand? You're saving the world, you guys. I hope you know that." Leo smiled at all his half brothers and sister, all his friends.

"No, Leo," one of the girls put her hand on his shoulder and smiled. "_You're _saving the world. We're just the pit crew."

"Actually," one of the guys said, "I'd say he's more of our representative for this mission."

"Now I feel pressured," Leo sighed. "I need a pep-talk."

The girl with her hand on his shoulder said, "How about this: If we weren't related I would have made-out with you by now."

Leo nodded. "That helps. Bye, guys! And remember, bring it all down to Bunker 9!" and he turned and ran off to find Piper.

"Are you _sure _you need this much?" Piper asked hysterically. "You can't seriously expect me to be able to carry half this stuff!"

They were staring a pile of celestial bronze plates of all different widths and sizes, stacked up to be taller than both of them combined by about a foot.

"I certainly hope he didn't," a voice said from behind them, and they whirled around to see around twenty of the Hephaestus kids. "We may not quite understand, but we're still family, Leo."

It took them around ten minutes to haul all the metal onto the ship. Once they'd said their "goodbyes" and "good lucks," a younger man with blonde hair and gray eyes ran over and asked Leo, "Where are Annabeth and Percy?"

Leo fell silent. He couldn't tell him. He couldn't really think about what had happened if he was supposed to keep going.

He cleared his throat but he couldn't get the painful lump out if it. He tried to swallow but this time it did not good.

Jason came to his rescue just then. "They…they fell into Tartarus together. We're going to save them."

The teen face fell. He looked away, took a shaky breath, then looked back. "Then what are you still doing here? Save them. Save the world."

He smiled at them. "I'll tell everyone else. Please, save them."

Leo nodded. Piper hugged Jason and Jason closed his eyes gently.

The boy ran off the deck along with the Hephaestus kids and Leo set to work on fixing the ship.

Piper had gone off to talk to Jason, and Leo was working on fixing part of the deck and insulating the hull again when he heard, "Hey," from behind him.

He looked over his shoulder and saw Hazel standing behind him. "How can I help?"

"I don't really think you can," Leo said as he hammered the metal in place.

"I can use a hammer, Leo," Hazel came up behind him and helped keep the metal steady. "And I also have hands."

Leo blushed. He knew she couldn't see his face, so he mustered, "Thanks," and finished with that piece.

He bent to pick up the next one when Hazel picked it up for him. "Leo, I wanted to talk about something."

"What?'

"About our kind of…history."

"You mean how my great-grandfather was you best friend?"

She nodded. "Leo, I've felt kind of a…connection toward you since I found out."

Leo was silent.

"I just…I don't know what to do about it, so I'm just going to ask to be friends until I can sort my feelings out. Okay?"

Leo nodded and then he whispered, "Okay."

The silence was short between them; Leo didn't want things to become awkward so he said, "The ship should be back in the air soon. Would you help the others restock on food and medicines and ambrosia and nectar? And tell Piper I need her on that case, too."

Hazel nodded. "Okay, Leo."

She turned to leave, but she stopped and said, "Thanks, Leo," and ran off.

_You're welcome, Hazel, _Leo thought as he finished reinforcing the hull. _I can see what Sammy saw in you. _

Leo, Hazel, Frank, Piper and Jason all assembled on the deck an hour later, the ship fully resupplied and reinforced. Leo made some minor adjustments here and there but otherwise the ship was the same.

"Alright everyone, this is your captain speaking," Leo said. "Please fasten your seatbelts and prepare for lift off."

"Shut up, Leo," Piper said playfully. She ran to the edge to wave to the crowd, as did everyone else, including Leo.

They waved, and then Leo ran over and started the ship. Leo could hear the goodbyes and the come back safely pleases from down below.

The ship took air quickly, and Leo couldn't help but miss Camp already.

Leo turned the ship, set the GPS for Greece and started forward.

But now he had other friends to save. Two really good friends, stuck in Tartarus together.

_We're coming to save you, Percy and Annabeth. We're finally ready._

* * *

**Yay, friendship!**

**So, they're finally ready to save Percy and Annabeth! Next chapter is going to be very fun to write...}:)**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, everyone!**

**So, I want you to know that this chapter is kind of a filler...!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 13

Annabeth

"Percy!" Annabeth dipped her hand in the water. "Percy, your head! Is it still bleeding?"

"Hm?" Percy asked, looking over at her. "I don't think so."

"Check, please!" Annabeth said, and pulled her hand out of the water. It was covered in a mixture of water and blood.

He pressed his hand to the back of his head. He pulled his hand away, looking confused.

He palm was coated in a mixture of water and blood.

Alarmed, he used his other hand to feel around for the open cut. His face relaxed, he laughed slightly, and pulled his hand away.

It was covered in water and blood.

"Annabeth, it's okay," Percy sighed. "It's just the dried blood from before coming off when it got wet."

"Oh," Annabeth looked back down at her hand. "Well, we should re-dig a water source, because this one is filled with your-"

She cut herself off when she saw the hole. All the blood had been removed from it, almost like it was sucked up by a giant vacuum, and all that was left was the blue water.

"What?" Percy asked, crawling over to her. He too looked in the hole. "That's amazing," he whispered.

He scooped up some more in his hands and drank eagerly.

From this close up, Annabeth could truly smell the sweat and see the fatigue covering his body and taking over his muscles.

"Percy, we should rest," Annabeth coaxed, running a hand over his back and shoveled more water out of the hole.

"I feel…rejuvenated…" Percy whispered through gulps. "I don't…need to…rest anymore."

"But _I _do," Annabeth whispered, rubbing his back. "Please?"

Percy backed away from the water. He looked at her and nodded. "Okay. But, do me a favor."

She looked at him.

"Drink some water. You need to replenish what you've lost from being out in the desert sun so long."

Annabeth was reluctant at first, but she slowly dipped her cupped hands in the water, scooped out as much as she could, and pulled her hands out.

Just the simple feeling of the cool water running over the top of her hands and trickling down the back of her hands made her want to drink as she brought the water up to her lips.

She swallowed her handful in three big gulps and realized how much stronger it made her feel.

She took another handful of water and swallowed that down. She felt stronger, and rejuvenated, just like Percy claimed he did.

But she knew sleep was still important. She knew she still had to rest. She could drop down from exhaustion from more than just heat.

"Percy, my ankle hurts," Annabeth lied. "I don't think I can move without some rest first."

"Oh," Percy leaned over and looked at it. "Okay, I guess."

She felt bad manipulating him like that, but if it was the only way to get him to sleep than it must be done.

She lay down on the damp dirt and Percy laid beside her, close enough so they were touching.

"When we wake up, we drink a little more water and start moving again," Annabeth told him.

"Absolutely," Percy replied. "Sleep well, Annabeth."

Annabeth closed her eyes and fell asleep to the knowledge that they were together, and that Percy _wasn't _bleeding, and that everything was going to be okay.

For now.

Annabeth woke up first.

She was having trouble breathing; her throat was so sore, and her lips were so dry.

She crawled around Percy and over to the water hole. She drank for a little while and instantly felt better.

She sat and waited for Percy to wake up.

Annabeth opened her eyes to see Percy in front of her.

"Hey, Annabeth," he smiled at her. "Ready to get moving?"

She nodded. "When did I fall asleep?"

"My question is when did you move?"

"I woke up really thirsty and I got some water and sat up to wait for you. I guess I fell asleep."

"Yeah, you were awake when I found you," Percy admitted.

He helped her use the hand and foot holds she'd created and they successfully crawled out of the hole and onto the spongy desert ground.

Under the horrible desert heat.

Percy carried Annabeth for a little while as he had before, with Annabeth riding on his back.

Annabeth felt like there was no time for them to dig another hole and find more water, but she was starting to get kind of thirsty, and Percy was starting to sweat once again.

Hours past. Annabeth was basically asleep from heat exhaustion, the soaked, sweaty fabric of Percy's shirt seemed to comfortable to her as she rested her head on his shoulder blade and started to close her eyes when Percy shouted, "Annabeth, look!"

Annabeth picked her head up and looked over Percy's shoulder and saw a forest in front of them. It seemed lush, green, and great protection from this harmful, harm sun.

Percy started running. "The sooner we get out of here, the better we'll feel, I promise," Percy replied to Annabeth's protest about him straining his body and wasting his energy.

The forest was approaching quickly, and Annabeth felt excited and apprehensive at the same time. She didn't know what would lie in the forest, and if the leaves were dangerous or the sap poisonous or if the trees could sap their life energy or something bizarre like that.

This _was _Tartarus after all.

Annabeth couldn't see anything more bizarre than that.

When Percy broke through the trees, the rainfall was like sweat relief pushing through her dirty, sweaty blonde hair and soothing her sun burned neck.

She sighed in delight and Percy dropped down on one knee. She climbed off her back gently and he helped her walk along the damp soil of the rain forest as if Percy was a crutch.

"I need to find you a crutch," Percy said as they hobbled along together.

"Or a walking stick," Annabeth joked.

Percy smiled and laughed slightly.

The rain started to thin out until it had stopped all together, and Annabeth's thighs felt like they couldn't work anymore.

"I feel like I've been walking for miles, or hours," Percy sighed.

"Me too," Annabeth nodded and they sat down by a couple of trees on the soft, soaked soil.

"This place follows a different time zone than we do," Annabeth reflected.

"No, really? Seeing how it's never night, or even day, really, I couldn't say I've noticed that," Percy joked, staring through the thick palm leaves above them.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth sighed. "And they don't follow our rules with weather and climate or terrain change. You wouldn't find a rain forest with _actual _cool rain in the middle of a scorching hot desert!"

"What if we're finding a scorching hot desert in the middle of a cool rain forest with real rain?"

"Percy!" Annabeth shoved him playfully beside her and he laughed a little bit.

He smiled at her, and his eyes softened. "Annabeth, I'm going to get you out of here alive and safely, you know that, right?"

Annabeth nodded. "I know you'll try."

"And now you know I'll succeed," Percy whispered. "No matter the cost."

"There is one cost I won't stand," Annabeth looked at him seriously. "Leaving you behind."

Percy was silent. "We'll cross the bridge when we come to it."

Annabeth looked up at the sky through the leaves of the various trees, and sighed. The sky was still that neutral shade of gray.

"Goodnight, Percy," Annabeth whispered as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Goodnight," Percy replied quietly as Annabeth closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

**I know, I know, I get that your disappointed in me! I'm sorry! But didn't I tell you it was just a filler? I just needed to get them to the forest so stuff could start happening!**

**The real action is on the ship now, anyway! So, I hope you enjoy the NEXT chapter I put out, and I hope you think the next Annabeth chapter I put out will be worth having this filler to get there!**

**Thanks for Reading, and please please please please PLEASE check out my new(ish) Hunger Games story, Bloody Water!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey, Everyone!**

**Okay, so this is where the action finally STARTS HAPPENING!**

**I'm so sorry I held you up with a lot of this filler stuff for so long! But now, things will begin to fall into place, I hope, and mabye you'll start to figure things out?**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 14

Hazel

Sometimes, the Hazel wished she could un-hear things.

And now was one of those times.

As she sat in her room on the Argo II, she couldn't stop thinking about what had happened.

She was just looking for Frank in the crowd…

_She was looking through the crowd for Frank when a red haired, green eyed girl came up to her._

_ "You're one of the kids on the quest, right?" she'd asked._

_ "Yeah, I am," Hazel replied. "I'm Hazel."_

_ "I'm Rachel," she smiled at Hazel. "Can we talk?"_

_ "Sure, I guess," Hazel replied, looked over her should one last time for Frank, and followed the girl away from the crowd._

_ They had been talking about random things when Rachel brought up the quest._

_ "What are you doing now?"_

_ "We're restocking and refueling before we go to Greece," Hazel replied._

_ "To save Percy and Annabeth?" _

_ Hazel looked her, shocked. "Yeah. How did you know?"_

_ "Well, I-" she started, when suddenly, a strange green mist came out of her open mouth and she looked blankly, and it seemed to Hazel, past her._

_ Then she suddenly started to speak._

_ "Heroes Fight for the Doors of Death_

_ "But Have to Fight;_

_ "Dead Man's Last Breath._

_ "To Close the Doors_

_ "They Play Both Sides_

_ "And Please the God_

_ "Of Truth and Lies."_

_ The mist stopped and the girl blinked a couple times. She looked at Hazel like she was worried; the look of horror must have been showing on Hazel's face._

_ "I'm so sorry," Rachel whispered. "I just…I'm the Oracle, you see. I didn't mean to scare you. I wasn't expecting it, really."_

_ Hazel found her mouth was hanging open, so she closed it, nodded, and told her, "It's fine. I just…wasn't expecting that."_

_ Then, she heard Piper shouting, "Hazel? HAZEL?"_

_ "I-I'm over here!" Hazel called to her._

_ Piper popped over and said, "Leo told me to round up everyone. Let's go, we're leaving."_

_ Hazel nodded. "I'll be right there."_

_ She turned back to Rachel, and Rachel was staring nervously at her. "I'm really sorry. Please forgive me."_

_ "I'm not mad," Hazel assured her. "But I have to leave now. Bye, Rachel," Hazel turned and ran, calling, "and thanks!"_

She wanted to tell Leo, but her relationship with him was kind of…shaky, at the time, so she decided to tell all of them together.

_It's now or never, Hazel_¸ she told herself. _Do it now before you forget!_

She stood up and ran out of her room, calling for everyone to meet her on deck.

_How could I forget? _She thought as she waited for them on the deck.

The sun was starting to set, and she could see the half moon rising across the sky.

Leo was the first one on. He smiled at her and waved, and she couldn't help but feel guilty as she waved back.

_Just remember what Piper said_¸ Hazel thought as she looked away and waited for the others. _Pick one, and everyone stops getting hurt._

Slowly, the rest of the crew (Hazel felt a pang in her heart when she remembered Nico wasn't there) filled on deck again, and Jason asked, "What is this about?"

Hazel cleared her throat. "I know we have saving Percy and Annabeth on our minds-"

"And Nico," Frank piped up. "He's one of us, too."

Hazel smiled and continued. "But there's some news I found out while at Camp Half-Blood."

"What?" Jason asked.

"I got a message from the Oracle, Rachel," she said.

Everyone was silent.

Hazel cleared her throat and tried to remember.

"_Heroes Fight for the Doors of Death_

"_But have to Fight;_

"_Dead Man's Last Breath._

"_To Close the Doors_

"_They Play Both Sides_

"_And Please the God_

"_Of Truth and Lies_." Hazel finished.

"We are fighting for the Doors of Death," Leo whispered.

"What could be 'Dead Man's Last Breath'?" Piper asked.

"We'll find out when we get there, I guess," Frank replied.

"I really don't like the sound of 'Playing Both Sides'," Jason spoke. "What do you think that means?"

"Maybe Annabeth and Percy are closing the Doors from the other side? Playing both sides?" Leo guessed.

"I think it means someone has to be a traitor," Jason replied.

"Oh, come on, that doesn't really make any sense, does it?" Hazel asked. "We're just worked up about this; no one is betraying us."

"Maybe not yet," Jason answered darkly.

"How about not ever," Leo replied. "We need to sort this out later."

There was a sudden shimmer next to Hazel, and she jumped back in alarm.

"What the…?" Jason asked, but then the shimmer flourished into an Iris message.

Very simple, yet terrifically horrifying.

Nico, with his hands bound by rope behind him, was tied to a stalagmite. He had a gag over his mouth and he was struggling, but his face was bleeding, and one of his eyes was swollen shut and black.

Hazel started crying. Her _brother _was being tortured in some crazy place and she couldn't help him.

She scanned him over for more injuries when she saw his left leg was bent at an odd angle and his bone was starting to stick out halfway up the shin.

Hazel gasped and nearly threw up.

"Nico!" Hazel cried out to him.

"You have twenty-seven hours, demigods," said a strong, definitely male voice boomed, and just before the Iris message faded, she saw a streak of something fly by behind Nico.

She was more than sad now; Hazel was down-right furious.

_I'm going to find him_, Hazel thought as she stalked past everyone, gritting her teeth, and walked down below deck, tears of sorrow turning into tears of anger. _No matter what it takes, I _will _find him_.

_And I _will _kill anyone who gets in my way_.

* * *

**NOOOOOOOOOOO, NICO! How could anyone do anything so cruel!**

**...Oh, wait. I can. }:)**

**I feel bad for what I did to Nico, though...**

**But don't worry, all will be explained in good time!**

**Thanks for Reading, and please check out my Hunger Games story, Bloody Water!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey, Everyone!**

**So, I've been thinking...**

**I've gotten lots of reviews asking me to update, so I decided to update early. ;).**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 15

Jason

Jason knew what he saw.

There was no mistaking it.

Right before the Iris message closed, that flash of pink passing by?

One of those flying pigs.

Jason walked down the hallway below deck in a rage.

He was pissed at the pigs.

He was pissed at the gods.

He was pissed at _everything _except for all the people on this ship.

But he wasn't pissed at Nico. He couldn't be pissed at Nico right now.

He stormed down and banged on Frank's door. "Frank? Open up, I need you."

Frank opened the door. He looked a little embarrassed but he said, "Hey, dude, what do you need?"

Jason could hear weeping from behind him and he guessed Frank was trying to comfort Hazel.

"We need to dissect that pig. Like, now," Jason commanded. "It means more to us now than ever."

"Oh, can't we just forget about those stupid _pigs_?!" Hazel wailed from inside. "We need to spend all our time getting to Greece, not worrying about some stupid animal that we _shot _and is already _dead_!"

"I'll explain on the way," Jason replied, ignoring Hazel's comment. "Bring Hazel and I'll tell her, too."

Frank nodded. He closed the door behind him and Jason could hear Frank asking, "Would you please come with me? It would make me feel better if you were there."

Jason waited outside the door, and when Hazel and Frank emerged, Jason's heart sunk a little at the sight of her.

Her eyes were red and her hair was a mess and she looked so crushed.

Jason fell into step beside them and they walked down the hall to the stables where they had decided to keep the dead pig, too.

"When the message closed," Jason began. "I saw something behind Nico when the message closed. It was one of those pigs."

"I _knew _I saw something," Hazel gasped, the anger burning through her voice.

"So, I want to know what is going on with these pigs now before our situation gets any worse." Jason sighed as he opened the stable door.

Frank threw the not moving pig over his shoulder, the arrow still sticking out of it, and they walked off to Leo's room.

"Leo?" Hazel called.

"WHAT?" Leo shouted to them from inside his room. "I CAN BARELY HEAR YOU!"

"WHY DON'T YOU OPEN YOUR DOOR, THEN?" Frank bellowed.

"_WHAT_? HANG ON; MAYBE IF I OPEN MY DOOR I COULD HEAR YOU BETTER!" Leo replied.

The door swung open, and Leo stood by with one finger in his right ear and the Archimedes Sphere sitting on his desk, with a wrench, some various sized screw drivers, and a tiny hammer.

"So, what was that you all were saying?" Leo smiled at them.

Frank jostled the dead pig over his shoulder. "Dissection. Wanna come?"

Leo swallowed hard. "I don't know, guys, I mean, with this whole Nico business, I was thinking I could try to unlock more secrets about the Archimedes Sphere," he pointed to it, "and see if maybe there was a teleporting function."

Jason sighed.

"Leo, I understand you want to help," Hazel stepped in, "but Jason and I saw a pig fly past the Iris message and he, and I do too, really, wants to know what we're up against."

Leo was quiet. He turned to look at Jason and asked, "Are you sure that's what you saw?"

Jason nodded.

"Then let's go," Leo sighed.

"Um, go where?" Frank asked.

"Follow me," Leo replied.

* * *

"I built this place for experimenting on any new materials or chemicals we found," Leo admitted as he led them down the staircase that had been hidden under the floor boards of his room.

"Wow, Leo," Hazel commented as they entered the huge space.

Leo nodded.

The space was huge. It was dark and lit only by harsh purple and green lights.

The staircase ended and they walked up to a large, glass surfaced table.

Under the dark glass was a series of dull green lights.

"Lay the pig down there," Leo sighed and pointed to the shiny surface.

Frank placed the pig down and Leo pressed a button under the table.

Jason heard a faint click and a drawer slid out right in front of him. He had to jump back to avoid getting hit.

And he backed into something hard.

He turned around and saw that he was staring at a large pile of celestial bronze plates.

He had been wondering where all the leftover plates had gone to.

He turned back around and asked, "Okay, so, who wants to perform the dissection?"

"Gods, it's like biology class all over again," Leo moaned. "I guess I'll do it."

"Okay, great," Jason replied. He stepped up next to him, and Leo was pulling a pair of goggles over his head.

_Where did he even _get _those_? Jason thought.

Leo picked up a scalpel form the drawer and held the dead pig down on the table.

He took a deep breath, sighed, and made a long incision next to the protruding arrow.

He pulled up some of the tough pig skin and gasped.

Jason peered over his shoulder, and he gasped, too.

_What? _He thought, panicked. _No way. That _can't _be!_

* * *

**XP! Cliffhanger!**

**Sorry, but I really had to do it to you guys!**

**But don't worry, I'm still updating on Thursday! **

**Thanks for Reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey, Everyone!**

**I don't want to bother you with a long author's note, so...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 16

Annabeth

Annabeth thought all was good before the metal horses.

They had found a nice, cool rainforest that was slowly healing her aching sunburn, and she and Percy were still together.

That was really all she could ask for right then.

Except for some more _water_.

"Percy, do you think if we dig here, too, we could find some water?" Annabeth asked hopefully.

They had gotten up and began walking again after a little sleep and Annabeth was starting to lose hope in this situation.

"Yeah, maybe," Percy thought aloud. "Let's try."

They got down on their knees and started digging into the soft squishy dirt.

It took a lot less time to find water than in the desert. They only dug maybe an inch before a sparklingly blue pool shimmering in front of them.

Annabeth dug her hands in generously and took large gulps, letting some dribble down her chin.

And then, after Percy had drunk some, they'd left the hole and continued walking.

Annabeth's legs had begun to hurt again soon after.

She leaned against Percy more and more until Percy was basically carrying her.

"Annabeth, hang in there for a second," Percy whispered and propped her against a tree.

"Percy, where are you-" Annabeth started, but he turned and began to run off, calling behind him, "I'll be right back!"

She took some deep breaths and thought about Percy.

_What is he doing? Is he safe? Why wouldn't he tell me anything?_

Annabeth stood and waited, picking at leaves and scratching the bark, until she heard loud sounds.

Annabeth froze where she stood.

It sounded like a mixture of echoing thundering, heavy rain, and footsteps.

Annabeth tried to blend into the tree, but she couldn't make herself invisible without her cap, which she didn't have with her, and was no longer working, anyway.

"Come on, Percy, come on," Annabeth whispered desperately.

And then the footsteps faded, but rustling in a shrub nearly stole her attention, and then Percy busted through, looking happy.

"Percy, you scared the living-" Annabeth started, but then she took a look at what Percy was holding.

A wooden cane.

"You asked me to get you a walking stick, so…" he offered it to her. "Here."

Annabeth laughed. "I was joking, Seaweed Brain!"

"But you still want it, right?" Percy asked.

Annabeth sighed. "Of course I do. Hand it over."

She gripped the top and pressed the point into the dirt.

She placed some of her weight on it, and it surprisingly held her.

She moved her good leg forward, then her bad leg and her walking stick.

And she was walking again, with a wooden walking stick her boyfriend had so graciously made her.

_Should I tell him about the footsteps?_

"Percy," Annabeth started. "I heard something while you were gone."

His eyes were alert in an instant. "What?"

"It sounded like really loud, really dangerous footsteps," Annabeth recalled. "And I was worried something was coming. But nothing ever showed up."

Percy nodded. "I won't leave you like that again, I promise. And maybe now you can keep up?" He teased.

"Haha," she laughed sarcastically and Percy chuckled.

"We should get moving," Percy said, suddenly serious.

"Where do you even think the Doors will be?" Annabeth asked.

Percy shook his head as Annabeth hobbled on beside him. "I have no clue. I'm thinking some empty space in the middle of some crowded area because of the raw amount of power radiating off those Doors."

"Well _someone's _being rather dramatic," Annabeth teased.

"Not dramatic," Percy said, looking slightly past the trees ahead of them, slightly past the gray sky. "Visionary."

Annabeth was quiet after that. She didn't want to disturb his thoughts.

Then, the footsteps started again. Only they were louder, and closer.

And scarier, and more dangerous.

"No time for hobbling." Percy scooped Annabeth up in his arms and started running.

They dashed around trees, and Percy was breathing hard.

And then they heard it.

A loud whiny that shook the trees.

"_Horses_?" Annabeth asked, bewildered.

"They _can't _be real, though," Percy replied, trying to be reassuring. "I can't read their thoughts."

Annabeth nodded, trying to keep her mind straight.

Suddenly, a huge, shining, silver stallion erupted from the bushes not twenty feet behind them, followed by others in bronze and gold.

Percy ran, but Annabeth knew her weight was slowing them down. She _knew _they were going to catch up. They were already closing the distance, with their ominous footprints ricocheting through Annabeth's brain and splitting her eardrums.

"Thank you," Annabeth whispered to Percy, "for trying."

"Whatever it takes, remember?" Percy asked.

"Percy, _no-_" Annabeth started, but as the horses closed in, Percy whispered, "I love you!" and threw Annabeth out of his arms and away from the horrible horses and into the bushes.

Annabeth hit her head on the ground and saw bright spots.

_Percy, no_, she thought as she faded out of consciousness. _I wanted to stay together…_

And the last thing Annabeth heard over the footsteps before she passed out was Percy's voice from far away: "I will find you!"

* * *

**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Percy, WHY? How is she going to survive without you?**

**Percy: DUH, she's Annabeth Chase, THAT'S how!**

**Annabeth: Thank you, Percy, you're SO right!**

**Me: I wouldn't be so sure of your own _strength_, Annabeth. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey, Everyone!**

**What? She's updating on an irregular day? WHAAAAAAAATTT?**

**XP! What can I say? I'm irregular! And I'm finally fixing the cliffhanger with the pig, so, you're WELCOME!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 17

Leo

_Gears? _Leo thought. _How can that be?_

The arrow was jammed in between two spinning gears in a place where the heart should have been.

The gear on the left was still twitching, trying to keep spinning, but the arrow was stopping it.

"It's a machine?" Hazel asked.

Leo pulled away more skin to reveal a stomach.

An actual organ.

"No," Leo said, and he poked it. "No, these are real, living pigs. But, with gears for a heart."

"Who would do that?" Frank asked.

"Someone working for Gaea, probably," Jason sighed.

Leo, trying not to think of the pain he was causing the pig, pull the arrow out from between the gears.

The gears started spinning, and the pig started squealing.

"Leo! Hazel cried. "Shut it up!"

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" Leo started sewing the skin back together.

"LEO!" Jason shouted.

"Hush little piggy, don't say a word, I'm gonna stitch you up and you won't be hurt," Leo tried singing.

"Not helping!" Frank called.

Once the stitches were all in places, Leo backed away from the pig.

The pig stopped squealing, and stood up. It flapped its wings and hovered a few feet above the table.

"Aw," Leo said, staring at the cute creature. "He's so little!"

He looked like maybe a baby pig. And without a real heart…

"Come here," Leo opened his arms and the little piggy flew at him.

Leo caught him and hugged him, while Hazel laughed.

"So, what do we do now?" Leo asked as the baby pig squeaked and rubbed its nose on his face.

"We tie his back legs to Festus and tell him to go home. We'll follow him in whatever direction he turns," Jason said firmly.

"Wait, Jason-" Hazel started.

"No," Leo cut her off. "It's a good idea. I mean, the pig's home base is more than likely in Greece, because they were in the Iris message in the first place. As long as he doesn't get hurt."

"Leo, you get attached to things too easily," Frank commented.

"No was asking for you're opinion, Frank," Leo replied sourly. "Let's go."

* * *

Leo didn't enjoy hearing babies squeal.

As Jason and Frank tied the back legs of the poor young creature around one of Festus's large front teeth, Leo stood by Hazel, worrying about the pig.

It flapped its wings anxiously, trying to get away, while Frank held onto it tightly, not letting it escape while Jason tried to finish securing the knot.

Hazel walked over by the rail.

Leo, worried, followed her.

He was about to reach out his hand and touch her shoulder when she whispered, "I feel like that pig sometimes."

He froze, with his fingertips only millimeters from the rough, purple cloth covering her shoulder.

He pulled away slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible. She must not have heard him follow; she wouldn't have said something like that to him.

"I want to try to get away, just be on my own for a while, but Frank holds me back, and Jason ties me up and keeps me here." She sighed and looked up from the railing and out onto the slowly darkening sky. "I'm sorry, Sammy, you probably don't want to hear about my problems now. I mean, at least I'm alive, right?"

_She's talking to Sammy?_ Leo thought.

"I mean, it's not that I don't love Frank. I do, and I want to be his girlfriend, but he holds on just…just a little too tight, you know? And I mean, I guess it's not his fault, not _entirely_, but he gets a little…_possessive_, maybe? No, that's not the right word…_overprotective_, that's it. He gets a little overprotective when he feels…threatened, I guess. I don't really know, I'm not in his head, but I think Leo makes him nervous.

"Like that comment when we were in his lab thingy? About him getting attached to things to easily? That wasn't just the pig. I don't think he gets it, really. About how Leo and I are so related, and he sees Leo, thinking he has a crush on me, maybe he does, maybe he doesn't, I don't know I'm not in his head, and Frank thinks it's stupid because we've only just started to get to know each other. But he gets overprotective anyway. You know, just in case. I just…it's easier talking to you, Sammy, then I thought it was going to be.

"I'm not saying it's your grandson's fault for my unhappiness or my emotional unsteadiness, if anything it's quite the opposite, he's helped me stay on my feet while everyone else has been trying to keep me in one, standard place, or that's what it feels like. Sorry if I ramble a little bit, I'm really trying to get out one specific _point_, really, just talk about what's swimming in my brain so maybe I can actually _focus _for once on something other than my emotional issues that should be the _least _of my worries with Nico's fate kinda on my shoulders right now. And, well, that little pig over there, which brings me back to my earlier metaphor.

"But, Leo's been a big help, but I feel like it's kind of awkward between us, and I don't want it to be that way, you know? I want it to be easy, like it was with you and me.

"And I absolutely _know _he's not you. No one could be you, Sammy, but he's pretty darn close, and I just don't exactly know what to do about it.

"So, that's the reason I decided to speak to you. I haven't spoken to you since we _both _were alive. Gods, if anyone heard me right now, they'd think I was _insane _or something." Hazel laughed shakily and Leo saw her rub a tear off her cheek.

_Is she crying? _

"I'm sorry, Sammy," she whispered, her breaths a little shaky. "Thanks for helping me get my head on straight."

That's when Leo realized she was wrapping up her conversation. If she saw him there, she'd know he'd been eavesdropping. She'd kill him.

Either that or ask to never see him again.

He stepped backward lightly, trying not to make any sound, and when he was back to his original position on the deck, watching Jason successfully tie the knot and climb back onto the ship with Frank at his heels, when Hazel turned away from the railing, away from the dark sky that was becoming darker still.

She walked back over toward him and whispered, "What did I miss?"

_My mind clearing on my feelings for you_, Leo thought, but what he said was, "They secured the pig and now they're trying to figure out the word to make it go."

"Shouldn't they just follow it now? It's squealing and pulling like a maniac," Hazel commented, pointing to the pig.

"It's just trying to escape," Leo replied.

"But escape to where?" Hazel asked, mystery shining in her eyes.

It dawned on Leo now what she meant. He nodded. "Yeah, definitely."

He turned and ran to tell Jason what Hazel thought.

_I'm sorry I cloud your head, Hazel_, Leo though miserably as he ran off to talk to the guys_, but I'm glad I can hold you up_.

* * *

**Aaaaaaawwwwwwww...:)!**

**Okay, so I bet you guys might be tired of my constant swaying between LeoxHazel and FrankxHazel, and I want to tell you that it's simply because I can't decide which side I'm on, you know?**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey, Everyone!**

**I APOLOGIZE! OKAY? I'M SORRY!**

**I've been a neglectful author lately, and...I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I have two chapter to update today, so I hope it makes up for it!**

**I've just been really stressed about school soccer tryouts is all...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 18

Annabeth

Annabeth was about to lose it.

Completely, utterly, lose it.

She was alone (_again_), crippled, angry, tired, sad, and scared.

Yes, the great Annabeth Chase was scared.

She was scared for her Seaweed Brain. She was scared for her friends. But she was scared for herself, too.

But only a little bit.

Annabeth sat up in the bush. She pulled some leaves out of her hair and grabbed her walking stick.

She stood up on it, and looking down on it, it made tears come to her eyes.

_Percy…_ she thought miserably as she started to hobble onto the path.

"Which way do you go, Annabeth?" she asked herself. "Go back the way you came," she looked at the end of the road where she and Percy had come, "or follow the evil horses that stole my boyfriend."

The choice was simple, really.

She started walking down the path, the way the evil horses had forced Percy.

_I'm going to find you_, she thought, determined. _No matter what. As long as we're together. _

"Hey, what happened to that, Seaweed Brain?" she called out to no one. "What happened to 'As long as we're together'? Are we together now? NO!"

She stopped talking for a minute, took a small breath, and said, "I just really miss you right now."

Annabeth had taken very few breaks of walking since she started.

And when she did, it was only because she couldn't move anymore, and she only rested for maybe a minute.

What was once a reprieve from the hot sun was now because tedious to bare; she wanted to find Percy, and she _knew _he wasn't here anymore.

She could just feel it.

And she couldn't hear the footsteps anymore. At all. She was starting to lose hope. She didn't know if he was okay.

But she knew he wasn't dead. _That _was for sure.

And just because she was losing faith in herself didn't mean she was losing faith in him.

Maybe if she stopped walking and sat by a tree, then he could find her. Maybe.

Annabeth shook off her laziness and kept walking.

She got up again. This was maybe her tenth break. She wasn't ready to stop, not when she was so close.

Or so she hoped.

She covered back up the water hole she made and continued walking.

The temperature was suddenly a little warmer.

_A new part of the forest? _Annabeth thought with excitement. _Finally_!

"Keep it together, Annabeth," she told herself. "It's just a small accomplishment."

She continued to hobble, using her cane to the best of her abilities. She couldn't help but feel like an old man, walking along.

She couldn't _wait _to beat something with her cane.

She saw an opening in the distance that didn't seem quite right. She squinted and leaned forward a little bit.

It was a new environment.

"Okay, _now _you can celebrate!"

She tried to run but couldn't get enough speed on her cane and broken ankle. She continued to hobble as quickly as she could, a new ounce of vigor in her clumsy steps.

When she finally broke through the foliage, she nearly fell off the cliff.

She stopped abruptly and looked around at her environment. It was a red, clay, rocky area with tons of cliffs that reminded her slightly of the Grand Canyon, but with a lot more cliffs, drops, and steep slopes.

She walked along the edge of the chasm she was standing on the edge of and was careful not to put her cane on any weak spots or in any holes.

When she had finally made her way around the chasm, she decided to rest.

And then she heard it.

It was faint, but it was there.

Thundering footsteps.

There was absolutely no way she was taking a break now.

Her boyfriend was down there somewhere, and she was going to find him.

No matter what.

* * *

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH! Things just got INTENSE!**

**I'm going to go see a show at my local high school! Yay, music!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey, Everyone!**

**Okay, so as I said at the end of the chapter before this, I'm going to a concert at a local high school, so I don't have long!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 19

Hazel

Hazel didn't like torturing the pig.

Not one bit.

But if she was going to find Nico, then she had to do it.

So it wasn't bad, right?

_No, it's not_, she told herself.

She watched Leo run off to tell Jason and Frank her idea, and as soon as he was gone, she turned back to look at the squealing, jumping pig.

She was very angry at the pig, suddenly, for taking her brother away.

"You'd better take us to where we want to go," Hazel shouted to it. "We didn't tie you up there for nothing, but if it turns out we did, I'll eat you for dinner!"

She started pacing the deck, with no anger left to take out on the pig. _And besides_, Hazel thought, _it wasn't even the pig's fault, anyway._

She stopped pacing as she heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Jason, Frank, and Leo coming from below deck.

"You didn't have to stay up here," Frank told her as Leo walked off to start to ship. "You could have come down with us."

Hazel shook her head. "I didn't want to."

She wasn't going to tell Frank about her talk with Sammy.

Or, anyone, for that matter.

Especially not Leo.

"So, what did I miss below deck, anyway?" she asked.

"We talked about throwing Leo overboard," Frank said. "But we decided it was best not to; he's the only one who knows how to run the ship."

"Haha," Hazel said and shoved her boyfriend playfully.

He laughed and gave her a hug.

The ship lurched forward suddenly and Frank almost fell on top of Hazel and crushed her, but they righted themselves and pulled apart.

And then they were on the move.

Jason walked up to them. "We had a really nice day today, guys."

"Um, I have a question," Frank said. "Where's Piper?"

Jason laughed. "Oh, um, well…you know she was in one of her…_moods_ today, so she decided to stay in her cabin and stuff. She took a few naps and stuff. Don't worry, though, she was entertained."

Hazel nodded.

_Figures_, Hazel thought.

"Well," Jason said as Leo walked over. "I think it's time to sleep."

"Why?" Frank asked.

Hazel did a mental face palm. He just set himself up.

"Maybe because it's _dark _out, Frank, and we can't _see _as well in the dark," Leo started. "And, we need _sleep _in order to keep fighting. So, we take the time where we can't see as well and we use it to _sleep_. Does that make sense now?"

Frank glared at Leo, his eye glinting in the growing moonlight, and he looked as if he wanted to punch him.

Instead, he grabbed Hazel's arm and walked below deck, practically dragging Hazel behind him.

"What is that guy's deal?" Frank huffed as they stopped in front of Hazel's cabin.

"I don't know," Hazel sighed. "But why don't we sleep and just forget about it, okay?" she kissed his cheek.

Frank nodded, still frustrated. "Alright."

She opened her cabin door, and he said, "Goodnight, Hazel."

"Goodnight, Frank," she replied, and she stepped in her cabin and closed the door behind her.

She changed into pajamas and crawled into bed.

"Goodnight, Sammy," she whispered to no one, and she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Hazel woke up to the ship rocking like a hammock.

As she climbed out of bed she nearly fell over.

She tried to balance herself, but with the constant back and forth rocking of the ship, she couldn't see straight.

She grabbed the jeans she had been wearing yesterday that she had thrown on the floor and changed into them.

With nothing but the tank top she was wearing to cover her upper body and her feet bare, she left her cabin and ran on deck.

Frank was holding onto the railing and Leo was clutching the control panel. He had dropped his nunchuck and the joystick was pressed to the side.

Hazel lunged for it and picked it up.

The ship stopped rocking, and there was a sudden yelp coming from Festus and Frank shouted, "PIPER!"

Hazel looked over just in time to see Piper, who had been, for some reason, standing on Festus's head, topple over the side.

Hazel thought she had just killed Piper when Jason suddenly appeared by the ship's railing with Piper in his arms.

They landed gracefully on the deck and Jason put Piper down.

"What happened?" Leo asked. "Who stopped the ship?"

Hazel raised her hand. Then she turned to Piper and said, "Sorry, didn't know you were up there."

Piper nodded. "That's alright. Sorry about what I said to you before, by the way."

Hazel nodded.

"How'd you stop it?" Leo asked.

"You're nunchuck was on the group. The joystick was tilted. So, I picked it up."

Leo nodded. "I should have noticed."

Hazel shrugged. "You can't be on top of everything on the ship, Leo, no matter how hard you try."

"Sailors can do it."

"Sailors don't use huge warships that could crush four of their boats in a row," Jason replied. "They couldn't man this alone, either."

"But they could probably do better than I am right now," Leo sighed.

"Um, okay," Hazel said, getting slightly annoyed.

She looked around and stepped up onto the stair that lead to the control panel so she was a little taller than everyone and continued, "I'm done listening to this sad talk."

All eyes were on her now.

"Leo, you're doing a great job, because you're doing more than managing a ship, you're also figuring out the Archimedes's Sphere and keeping everyone in good spirits.

"Piper, I know you've been a little…shaky this week, but we're happy to have you back, and we're happy to know you're back.

"Frank, you've been like Jason's second-in-command for a while, and that's huge. Thank you.

"And Jason. You've taken charge while Percy and Annabeth haven't been here, and that's huge, too. We wouldn't have made it here without you."

Hazel looked around.

Everyone was smiling, and by the looks of it, feeling better.

"And thank you, Hazel," Piper said, "for giving us a pep talk when we needed one."

Hazel ducked her head a little and smiled.

"I think we're gonna get through this just fine, you guys," Jason said, forcing them all into a group hug. "Just fine."

Hazel laughed.

Jason racked his knuckles over Leo's head.

_We're gonna be just fine_.

* * *

**Sorry about typos and errors, I didn't have time to edit! **

**Thanks for Reading!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey, Everyone!**

**Okay, so I'm trying out for my school's soccer team this year (the girl's one, anyway...) and I started tryouts yesterday. Today was probably the hardest day so far, because even though I wasn't as nervous as yesterday, I was hungry when I started practice. And then I exercised and burned off all those calories and I got cramps and I felt hollow while playing and it was extremely uncomfortable, and so it was probably the worst day. **

**Sorry about updating late! Because of tryouts and homework, I'll probably update late next week, too, but I'll still update! I promise!**

**HAPPY PI DAY! I just thought I'd get that out there...I like math. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 20

Leo

After Hazel's little pep talk disbanded, Leo continued to lead the ship in which ever direction the pig turned.

The salty mist from the North Atlantic water and fresh salty air made Leo's chest ache for Percy to be laughing by his side.

And he had no idea what Hazel and Frank might be feeling; they'd known Percy longer than he had.

And naturally, thinking of Percy lead to thinking of Annabeth.

And that made Leo's chest hurt even more.

Annabeth was a great friend, and, by the looks of it, a great girlfriend. She didn't deserve the fate she was given.

Neither did Percy.

None of them did.

_But_, Leo thought with a little but of pride, _who _else _would be good enough to save the world but the seven of us_?

Then he remembered Nico, who they were flying off to save along with Percy and Annabeth, and he corrected himself. _Eight_.

_What is it about this kid, _Leo thought, _that makes him so…monster magnetic? We're always rushing off to save him all time._

"Leo!" Jason called to him. "How close are we?"

"Far," Leo called back. "We have to cross the North Atlantic Sea! That's going to take a few days…at least!"

"And let's not forgot all the monsters we're going to encounter on the way to slow us down," Frank mumbled with fake enthusiasm.

"Yeah," Hazel sighed.

"So, regular human time? It should take two to three days. Demigod time?" Leo told them. "That should be five, maybe six days. It all depends on if the ship gets damaged in a fight."

"Gods, I don't even want to _think _about that happening," Piper moaned. "It's too much to think about already-Percy, Annabeth, Nico, the Doors, the world, Gaea, the giants-to have to add the possibly of the boat failing over the middle of the ocean and all of us drowning in the water."

"Wow," Hazel said. "Way to stay optimistic, Piper."

"Not having the best day," Piper shot back.

"Cool it, guys," Frank started, and that's when Leo zoned out and decided to pay attention to the steering wheel and the squealing pig.

Wait. The pig hadn't been squealing for hours. Why had it started now?

There were suddenly flashing lights on the hull, and on the radar, a bright red shape was appearing over and over, closer and closer.

"Um, guys!" Leo shouted. "Monster approaching! Get your swords! This is going to be a seriously bumpy ride!"

"If it's more of those pigs, I swear to the gods," Jason muttered, and he started calling out orders to be fulfilled by the crew; "cover the left flank!" or "Keep the cannons loaded!" and even, "Leo! Keep the ship steady!"

_He's not Percy_, Leo thought, annoyed. _Why his he trying to act like him_?

The pig started flapping around in circles like it was trying to dodge something.

"Someone, calm the pig down!" Leo shouted. "He's getting in the way!"

"We _can't_, Leo, we're kind of busy!" Piper shouted.

There was a loud hissing sound, like snakes, only with a more feminine touch to it, when Leo looked up to check on the pig to see the upper body of a woman and a lower body of a snake trying to attack the pig.

"No!" Leo cried. "Someone, save the pig! He's our only chance!"

Jason lunged off the deck and took to the sky. When the snake woman turned, Leo saw pale gray wings attached to her back, flapping tranquilly.

At first, Leo thought it was an Echidna, but now, with the wings, Leo couldn't be so sure.

Jason lunged at the creature, and she parried with her talon-like nails and hissed.

Leo took a closer look at the creature, trying to analyze it.

He felt a little like Annabeth, and the made him smile.

He took a look at her face, and her head, and when he came to her neck, he saw…_gills_?

He continued to investigate her, when he realized the tip of her tail wasn't a snake tail at all; it was a fish fin.

"What the…" Leo whispered. He was pretty sure there wasn't any monster from Greek mythology that looked like that.

Leo's attention returned to the battle before him.

The woman-like creature had moved closer to Festus and closer to the pig, while dodging swings and blows from Jason.

Leo looked up and noticed Hazel, climbing on top of Festus's head.

She was poised right above the woman-snake-winged-fish thing now, and she raised her sword over her head dramatically.

But then, something else started to bleep on the radar, and Leo looked down to see another red mark coming in close pursuit.

He looked up in time to see another woman-snake hooking around to strike Hazel from the side.

Panicked, Leo shouted, "Hazel, _look out_! _Left_!"

Hazel looked over just in time to throw herself backward, falling on her back on Festus's head, and the creature's out stretched, clawed fingers fly by, along with the creature herself.

Hazel swings her sword as quickly as she can, and she cuts off the fish tail of the snake-fish-flying woman.

She shrieked a high-pitched cry and nearly fell out of the sky.

The other one fighting Jason started to wail in unison, and Hazel and Jason had to cover their ears.

Leo cringed and ducked to try to hide himself from the sound waves, and it seemed to work.

If only a little bit.

When the shrill voices of the weird women/creatures stopped, Leo stood back up.

Frank had climbed up Festus and was now holding a seemingly unconscious Hazel in his arms, looking around in anger and panic.

The beasts were circling them, taking every chance they got to attack, and Frank was doing well at holding them off, but Leo knew they needed to get away.

Leo looked around for Jason, wondering why he wasn't helping, when Leo saw he was fighting off three more of the vermin, surrounded himself.

The now tail-less creature lunged at Hazel, but Frank nearly stabbed her and she backed away, her large wings continuing to flap.

And Leo realized what he needed to do to save his friends.

He pulled a hammer from his tool belt (his now preferred weapon of choice) and he crept up slowly toward Hazel and Frank.

He lit his free hand with an open flame and waited by the back of Festus's head, crouching low, and waiting for one of the things to circle toward him.

And the tail-less one was first.

Leo jumped up and shot fire at her wings.

The wings lit like paper, and the woman shrieked and spiraled out of the sky and down to the ocean below.

The other wailed uncontrollably, louder than before, and lunged at Leo.

It turned into a full battle on the top of Festus's bronze head, and as Leo swung his hammer and bashed the woman's head, he saw Frank and Hazel slipping back onto the safety of the ship.

When she flew to him again, claw-like hands outstretched, Leo met her with a blast of fire to the face that left her shrieking and trying to fly away.

As soon as her back was turned, Leo shot a couple more balls of fire at her wings, and hers too, burned, and she crashed into the ocean along with the other.

The three around Jason wailed in sorrow for their fallen friend, and Jason cringed and covered his ears.

He fell a little lower in the sky and flew toward Leo.

"I don't know how much longer I can hold out on my own," Jason told him, a little worried.

"Don't worry, I have your back," Leo promised.

Jason nodded. "Only problem: you can't fight in the sky."

"Lead them over here," Leo reassured him, "and I can do just fine."

Jason nodded, smiled, and took back off toward the freaky snake-women, and he taunted them toward Festus's head.

Leo looked down to check on the pig, their guide, and found it lying in Festus's open mouth, seemingly unconscious.

Leo prayed to the gods that he was only unconscious, hopefully from the high frequency of the screams and wails from the snake-flying-fish-women.

Once they were in Leo's range, he pelted one with continuous balls of fire until he was able to hit the wings and send them spiraling into the ocean.

He cringed every time the remaining beasts made a sound, and he was happy to dispose of them quickly.

Leo caught one of the women with a fire ball to the tail and the bottoms of her wings, and she went shrieking out of control down under the ship and out of sight.

Jason, finally catching onto Leo's idea, cut one wing clean off the last one, and she fell out of view and into the water.

Leo climbed off onto the deck, and Piper ran to him and said, "Frank took Hazel to her cabin. She's in really bad shape."

"Thanks," Leo huffed, taking really deep breaths, nearly wheezing. "Would you do me a favor and go check on the pig? See if it's still breathing?"

Piper nodded. "Where is it?"

"Lying in Festus's mouth."

"Great," Piper sighed, and she ran off.

There was a sudden loud ripping noise, like metal being torn off metal, and the boat shook.

_No_! Leo thought, desperate and angry. _We killed off everyone of those things_!

Jason flew under the ship, and there was a loud, high-pitched cry and Jason flew onto the deck, exhausted, breathing heavily.

"She ripped…" Jason took a few more loud breaths. "She ripped…a huge hole…through the bottom of the boat. Straight through the metal."

Leo screamed some unkind words as the ship slowly began to lose altitude.

They were going to crash into the ocean and drown, just like Piper had said they would.

He ran to his control panel as more lights started flashing, and he checked a map to see if there were any islands or _anything _anywhere nearby.

And then he saw the small island of Angra Do Heroismo.

"Look out, everyone!" Leo shouted as he grabbed his Wii remote and nunchuck. "It's going to be a rough landing."

Leo maneuvered the ship forward, and with a sudden explosion from below deck, the ship sputtered to death and they shot down in the sky.

Leo only hoped he'd gotten them far enough to land them on the island.

* * *

**I thought it was time for a little action and suspence, didn't you?**

**Sorry I kepy you waiting for that so long, I was planning on writing something else when this fight came to my head and I was like "BOO-YEAH!" and I wrote it.**

**TA-DA! Happy Pi Day! I hope you have lots of pie!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey, Everyone!**

**I'm really kind of annoyed today because I've been trying out for soccer this week, and the results finally came in. I admit, I sucked at most of the tryouts, but...I made the _practice _team. WTF? All my friends are telling me it's "such an accomplishment!" and "It'll make you more likely to make the team next year!" and all that other stuff, but what am I doing in the mean time? That's right: watching. **

**Sorry to bother you guys with that, I just had to get it off my chest.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 21

Annabeth

Annabeth had been walking for what felt like years.

Who knows? It could have been years, for all she knew.

She'd only stopped to rest a few times, and usually only to get water.

She was too afraid to sleep without him. She just kept moving.

Nothing she could do would take her mind off him. But, then again, she didn't want to stop thinking about him.

He was her whole world; who wants to forget his or her entire world?

Annabeth hobbled along, following the distant sound of thundering footsteps.

After a while, they just stopped.

_What? _Annabeth thought, angry and scared. _How can they just stop? NOW? _

And that's when Annabeth realized the horses must have just stopped moving. Maybe they were resting. Maybe they were relaxing, taking a quick break, like she had many times.

Or maybe they were sleeping.

Either way, Annabeth needed to use this opportunity to catch up as much as she could before they started going again.

_I'm coming for you, Seaweed Brain_, she thought. _I promise I am_.

When she finally felt like she could almost be close, the footsteps started again.

Her knees were jelly and her brain was barely functioning properly; the only thing she could remember was Percy and how to put one foot in front of a cane and a cane in front of a foot to keep moving.

But when she heard the footsteps, Annabeth was filled with a renewed vigor.

They seemed to be so close by.

And then, up ahead, she could see them.

Just barely, she could see the backs of gold, silver, and bronze horses.

She started to jog/hobble. She didn't care if her knees were jelly; they could melt for all she cared, as long as they didn't stop her from getting to Percy.

She realized that she was approaching them quickly. It was almost like they were taking their time to get to wherever they were going. They must not have known Annabeth was pursuing them.

_Good_, she thought, _let them be surprised. Let them be scared. Let them be defenseless. I want Percy_.

* * *

After what felt like maybe days, Annabeth was much closer to the horses, but not close enough to attack.

The beasts of bronze, silver, and gold made an unexpected turn, and Annabeth raced as quickly as she could after them.

She realized they were traveling to some sort of cave. Annabeth could see the opening in the rock of the huge wall the horses were speeding toward.

There were many holes, actually, so it looked less like a cave and more like a hive.

Annabeth approached as quietly and as quickly as she could to the opening that the horses ran through minutes before.

She tried not to let her cane hit the rocky ground too hard; it tended to make a lot of noise.

She hobbled as lightly as possible, and as she peered into the cave, she saw two things.

A mass of silver, gold, and bronze.

And Percy, tied to a small tree growing out of the ground in the middle of the cave, asleep.

She was angry. Very angry. He had to be asleep. He _wasn't _dead.

Or unconscious. Unconscious was better than dead.

_I can't fight them now_, Annabeth thought angrily. _I'll sleep out here, and get them tomorrow. I'll kill them all. I swear, I will._

She dug for about a foot before finding more water, and Annabeth drank greedily. She decided to leave this hole open, just incase Percy needed something to drink afterward.

Annabeth tried not to image how they could have been treating him as she laid down next to the watering hole to fall asleep.

She hadn't known how tired she truly was until she closed her eyes.

* * *

In her dream, Annabeth was standing in a cave made of clay.

It looked a lot like the one with Percy in it, only empty and without a tree.

"Miss Chase," a voice boomed as if over a loud speaker. "I've been meaning to speak to you for a couple hours now, but you haven't been resting."

_It's only been hours_, Annabeth thought, relieved. _He can't be _that _hurt_.

"Who are you?" Annabeth shouted back.

"I'm sorry," the voice cooed, "how awfully rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself."

There was a loud popping sound behind her, and Annabeth turned around to see a tall man, maybe seven or eight feet tall. He had a long beard made of wavy black hair, and long locks of wavy black hair to go with it. He mad a small mustache that connected to his beard along the corners of his mouth, and when he smiled at her, his teeth were yellow, and two were rotten.

"Alas," he sighed, "this is as short as I may go."

Annabeth gave him a frustrated look. "Who are you?"

He chuckled. "An eager one, are you? Good. Well, if you must know, my name is Clytius, one of the sons of Gaea. A giant, if that may help."

Annabeth's expression turned grim. _He's a giant. Naturally_.

"What do you want?" When it came to giants, Annabeth's questions were straight forward and simple.

"Well, Gaea was hoping-" Clytius started, but Annabeth turned away from him. "No."

"No?" Clytius's tone sounded suspicious and amused. "But you didn't even let me finish my proposition."

"Alright," Annabeth turned back around. "But I'm going to keep in mind that it's not actually _your _proposition. It's _her's_."

Clytius nodded. "Of course."

"Gaea was wondering if you wanted to help her with a little deed she needed done," Clytius explained. "She assures you a reward."

"There is nothing I want from her," Annabeth said stubbornly. "So there's nothing she can give that would be worth anything to me."

"Even the safety of Mr. Jackson?" he asked suspiciously, but his tone of amusement never faded.

"'Mr. Jackson,'" Annabeth mocked slightly, "doesn't need her to protect him, and I don't need her to help me get him back."

"But that tree is a very special tree, Miss Chase," Clytius reprimanded. "I would suggest you take this offer now, and save the trouble for later."

"How special?" Annabeth asked. She always liked to know what she was up against when the time came for a fight.

"This tree sucks the life out of any mortal who touches it," Clytius explained. "And if touching it too long, the life will be drained out of the mortal completely, and the body will be absorbed and made part of the tree."

"I can save him on my own, Clytius," Annabeth snapped. "I don't need Gaea for this."

"As you wish, Miss Chase," Clytius replied, "but you just made your job a lot more difficult."

"Nothing I can't handle," Annabeth smiled at him, then she said, "I think I'm going to wake up now."

* * *

Her eyes flew open and she sat up.

She crept back over to the opened and saw, in horror, that Percy's cheeks were caving in and his skin was thing and his eyes looked like they were bulging out of their sockets.

It made Annabeth want to cry.

She didn't want to admit it, but the only reason why she hadn't dissed that giant in her dream was because he had seemed so friendly.

_I'm going to save you now, Percy_, she thought to him. _I'm going to have you right now_.

* * *

**NOT PERCY NO! Why is he the one always getting into trouble?**

**Because it wouldn't be very fun if the narrator was unable to narate. XP!**

**Okay, so I bet you guys are wondering: "What's with this author? Doesn't she know Percabeth is our favorite? MORE PERCABETH NOW BEFORE WE GO ON STRIKE!"**

**I'm going to be straight-up honest with you guys...I'm stuck.**

**I'm having _severe _writer's block, and I can't think of anything interesting to do with them while I'm writing about the guys on the Argo II.**

**I know that you love them, and I'm sorry, but if there's something serious you guys want me to see, then PLEASE drop an idea or suggestion in my PM inbox or in any other form that you can think of...;)**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey, Everyone!**

**WARNING: EXTREME FILLER CHAPTER!**

**Sorry, but it leads so stuff! It would have been longer if I'd picked a different perspective...*couch* Jason *cough***

**SPRING BREAK STARTS TODAY! XD XD XD XD!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 22

Hazel

Hazel's eyes fluttered open groggily to the loud sound of arguing.

"It's not my _fault_, Beauty Queen!"

"WE ALMOST DROWNED! YES IT IS YOUR FAULT!"

"Guys, Hazel's still-"

"SHUT UP, FRANK!"

"Don't be so mean, Beauty Queen!"

"I'm being mean? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CRASH LANDED US!"

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP! I think Hazel's getting up."

Hazel sat up. She saw Frank, looking at her, standing in between Piper and Leo, who seemed to be ready to kill each other.

"Where's Jason?" Hazel asked, observing the area.

They were standing and lying on grass near a beach with almost white sand. The cool ocean water lapped against the sand, pulling away stray grains and plunging them in the seemingly endless depths of the blue-green mystery.

"He's by the ship, checking for damages," Leo muttered. "I wanted to do it, but then I got in a fight with Beauty Queen here."

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Piper growled. "Frank, move!"

"No," Frank replied, almost calmly. "No one is going to die here today!"

Hazel stood up and looked behind her.

A bunch of palm trees were scattered behind her into a thin forest of light wood and dark pieces of huge foliage.

She turned, and to the left, she saw that tens of trees had been run over by the falling of the Argo II and they lay crushed and broken under the hull and bottom of the boat. There was a long, fat cut in the dirt made by the skidding of the ship as it came to stop, Hazel guessed, and the back of the ship was smoking.

The boat, however, didn't fair too well, either.

There was a large rip in the side of the hull that Leo had decided not to reinforce, and the huge hole near the engine through the bottom of the ship could be seen even from here.

"How are we going to fix this?" Hazel asked, completely out of context from the on going fight.

"Let's ask Fire Boy, or Fix-it Man here," Piper sneered. "He should know what to do."

"Why don't we just use the huge pile of Celestial Bronze you saved from Camp Half-Blood?" Hazel asked, remembering the room where they did the pig dissection.

"I thought of that, too," Leo told her, "but when I went to check, I saw that she'd ripped a hole through the floor of that room, too, and we only have…maybe five or six sheets of the stuff left. Not enough to fix a hole that big. Plus, the engine isn't made of Celestial bronze. I need metal for that."

Frank groaned.

"Nice work, Fix-It Guy," Piper snapped, and sat down on the ground. "What do we do now?"

Hazel looked over to the ship, and saw Jason, waving his arms and running toward them.

"I found…" he gasped, bending over when he finally reached them. "I found another sheet of Celestial Bronze."

"So, how many do we have now?" Leo asked.

"Seven large sheets and three medium sized ones," Jason replied, having finally caught his breath.

"That can probably fix the bottom of the engine room," Leo sighed.

"We need a smaller ship," Piper whined.

"Or, just more pieces of bronze. It's not _impossible _to find it," Leo replied.

"How _are _we going to find it then, Leo?" Piper snapped.

"Piper," Jason stepped in.

Hazel felt very much like a bystander. Or an invisible someone.

"What's gotten into you, Piper?" Jason asked.

"I'm…" Piper sighed. She took a deep breath and began again. "I'm sorry. I just don't like being in these situations. I hate feeling like things are out of my control. I hate feeling helpless."

Jason gave her a hug. "It's okay," Hazel heard him tell her.

When they stepped apart, Leo said, "I'm going to go check the hole damages and assess the necessary repairs. Where'd you but the metal?"

"By the hole," Jason replied.

"I'll help," Hazel answered, and she caught up to him.

"Why are you helping me?" Leo asked. "I'm pretty sure Jason's going to orchestrate a search for more metal. Don't you want to be a part of that?"

Hazel remembered what happened on the Argo II with the flying snake-fish ladies. She remembered how she'd been fighting well until she fell backward and hit her head on Festus's.

She didn't really remember much after that. A fuzzy, little memory of Frank standing over her with a sword, screaming at the sky.

And pain. Searing pain in her arm, and a terrible headache.

She looked down at her left arm.

Three long, starting to heal scratch marks ran from the inside of her wrist to the outside of her elbow. They circled around her arm, as if the scratcher had been in motion.

"You got scratched by one of those lady-snake-fish things," Leo told her, and she looked up at him.

"I monitored your damages a little while, too, before I decided to check the ship. I was the only one still conscious," he added. "And then Jason woke up, and left to check the ship. Then Piper woke up, and she started yelling at me. And after a little while Frank woke up. And then a couple minutes later, you woke up again."

Hazel nodded.

"When she got you, you flew backward and hit your head on Festus. You have a cut on the back of your head, under all your hair, and a small bruise right below your right temple," Leo continued.

Hazel took her injured arm and touched right below her right temple.

It hurt, very much, and it was very tender. "How bad does it look?"

"It's dark, and kind of blue," Leo replied. "But it'll heal."

Hazel smiled. "What about my cuts?"

"They might scar, even with the ambrosia. Sorry," Leo muttered as her face fell.

They got to the Argo II just then, and Hazel was astounded by the actual enormousness of the gaping hole before her.

"So, how are we supposed to fix this?" Hazel asked.

"I don't know. Are you _sure _you don't want to go help with the bronze hunt?" Leo asked as he stepped inside the ship and looked at it from the other side.

"Frank wouldn't let me," Hazel replied. "And I want to help."

Leo nodded. "Alright. Well, would you bring me that medium sheet of bronze over there? I'd like to get started."

* * *

After a couple minutes, maybe ten or so, of hammering sheets of metal over a hole with Leo, Hazel looked over at the group and saw Jason, Piper, and Frank standing up.

And then they ran into the thin forest together.

"I think they've decided we were safe, and that they should go," Hazel told Leo as she held the metal sheet in place. "They just felt."

"That's alright," Leo shouted from the other side of the bronze sheet. "They'll be fine."

_I hope so_, Hazel thought. _Stay safe, Frank. Stay safe, you guys._

* * *

**SORRY SORRY SORRY FOR FILLER!**

**There's something I want to say before I go...**

**In order to celebrate Spring Break, I'm going to post a chapter every day until I go back to school! That's 9 to 11 days of a chapter per day! Awesome, right?**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey, Everyone!**

**Another day, another chapter...**

**And for anyone who doesn't know, my Spring Break is this week!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 23

Jason

As Jason ran through the foliage he tried to remember the plan.

Stay focused, stay out of the way, and stay alert.

He made sure Piper was okay with this endeavor first, naturally, because he was trying hard to be a good boyfriend as _well _as a good leader in Percy's absence.

Yes, Jason had finally accepted the fact: he was a stand-in in Percy's leave. An understudy until the lead role is back in business.

When they penetrated the beach, they came upon a busy dirt street. Across the street was a very busy market.

"Let's do this," Piper was suddenly beside him, and she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hello, ma'am," Jason said. "How can I help you?"

"My brother and I were wondering if you sold any bronze products," Piper said. "We're looking for an engagement present for his fiancé."

"Hello, young ones," Piper said. "How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for a ring for my girlfriend," Jason whispered. "We've been dating for a couple years now…anyway, do you have anything bronze?"

"I'll see what I can find," Piper winked. "We're ready."

"Frank, let's go!" Piper shouted to Frank, and he appeared nearby.

Frank was nervous about talking to people; Jason had no idea why, but he said he was.

Jason ran across the street and walked up to the first stand.

"Hello," an older man smiled at him. "How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for decoration to add to my home," Jason lied. "Do you have any bronze?"

"Yes," he said. "Let me just pull some stuff out of the back." He disappeared behind a curtain behind him.

Jason was a little shocked. He hadn't thought it was going to be that easy on his first try.

He came back out holding an armful of bronze materials.

He spread them out of the flat surface in front of him, and Jason looked at a bronze vase, an intricate piece of bronze that was able to be hung on a wall, a teapot that seemed to be more like brass instead of bronze, and small, decorative bronze bowl that seemed to be a little more powerful than the others.

Jason picked it up. "It's perfect. Piper!" he shouted to Piper, who was walking to another stand.

She turned and ran over to them. "Yeah?"

"Don't you just think this is perfect?" Jason asked, showing her the bowl.

Piper touched it, smiled, and nodded. "Absolutely."

"That will be ten Euros," he said.

"I don't think we need to pay," Piper replied, seemingly uncaring and her voice coated in charmspeak. "It doesn't seem worth it, really. Just a silly old bowl."

The vendor looked like he was about to protest, but then he blinked and said, "I guess…you're right, miss. Have a good day."

They walked away linking arms and smiling, Jason holding the bowl in both hands.

They walked to another stand, where an old woman was standing, polishing a metal box.

Piper stopped and tugged on Jason's arm lovingly, pointing at the stand. "Jason, baby, isn't that box beautiful! Maybe she has others that would go with the mirror in our living room!"

"Alright, fine," Jason pretended to relent. "Let's go see."

Piper gave him a short kiss on the cheek and led him over to the stand.

"Hi," Jason said to the woman. "My girlfriend saw the box in your hand, and we were wondering, it's beautiful, by the way," Jason added and the woman smiled, "well, we were wondering if maybe you had any of those boxes in bronze."

She nodded. She bent down and picked up three bronze boxes. "Which one?"

They were all different sizes, but only the small one, that looked almost like a ring box, was the only that was magic.

Jason didn't know how much help it would be for Leo, but he accepted it anyway. "How much?"

"You keep it," she said. Then, she winked at him. "She's a lucky lady."

Jason smiled gratefully. "Thank you."

He turned around and grabbed Piper's hand.

"You didn't need me," she whispered as they walked away. "How did you get away without paying?"

"It was a gift," Jason replied. "She let me have it."

They almost collided with Frank. He had his arms full of different sorts of bronze products.

"Some of these might _not _be Celestial," Frank admitted. "I'm bad at judging."

Piper placed the bowl on top of some of Frank's items. "Since we only got so little, would you take what we have back with you, too?"

Frank shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Jason was about to place the ring box on, when a couple items slipped out of Frank's grasp and fell out of his arms.

Piper reacted instantly and caught them.

"Maybe Piper should go with you," Jason said. "I can be the single guy looking for a gift for his friend's wedding."

"Fine," Piper sighed. "Come on, Frank." She turned to Jason and said, "Don't forget to look for regular metal, too. We still need to fix the engine!"

"Okay," Jason replied, and continued to walk through the market.

* * *

He talked to many vendors and came away with a Celestial Bronze teapot and many various pieces of metal objects.

He pulled the ring box out of his pocket and rolled it between his fingers.

There was suddenly something grabbing his hair. It wrenched his head back, and he could hear the soft sound of flapping wings.

A woman's voice hissed in his ear, "We have some unfinished business to attend to."

* * *

**CLIFFHANGER!**

**Don't worry, you only have to wait until tomorrow! ;)**

**And I bet you thought I wasn't going to pull through! XP!**

**Will they every get the ship fixed? Will they ever get away from all these monsters? And will I EVER get any ideas for Percy and Ananbeth? Tune in tomorrow, and I'll see how many of these questions I can answer for you! ;)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey, Everyone!**

**Okay, so I'm sorry if this chapter is too short for you guys, I tried to add as much action as I could, it's just...we're back with Percy and Annabeth, and I already told you about my block with them, so...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 24

Annabeth

Annabeth didn't have anything to fight with.

Correction; Annabeth didn't have anything to fight with that could kill anything.

She stared at the wooden cane Percy had made her, and she took a couple seconds debating whether or not this weapon would be good enough in the end.

_It's all you have, Annabeth_, she told herself, _and Percy doesn't have much time left_.

She stood up, made sure her cane was securely in her grip, and she hobbled into the cave.

When the first horse looked up at her, she swung her cane into its head and made a huge dent where a skull might have been.

The horse sagged, bent over, and crumpled to the ground.

Annabeth nearly fell over, but she righted herself and planted her cane on the ground again.

The next horse came running at her, and she tripped it and stabbed it in the stomach as it fell.

For a dull weapon, it was very surprising that it could pierce through metal.

As she wrenched the cane out, the horse fell, and another turned to look at her.

She smashed the cane down on the top of its head and it fell to the ground.

The entire cave, which only had maybe twenty horses in it now, stared at her, and then about four horses, all made of gold, ran at her.

_Gold is soft_, she told herself. _Heavy, but soft_.

She stabbed the first one in the eye socket, where Annabeth noticed no eyes sat, and kicked another with her good foot.

She landed on her good foot and pulled the cane out of the one's eye. She slammed her cane into the side of another, and it fell with its brothers and sisters.

Annabeth kicked the last horse in the jaw, and the force snapped its head off and sent it flying into the head of another horse standing by, and they both fell.

Annabeth hobbled as quickly as she could through the stunned crowd of metal horses until she reached the tree.

Percy's head was hung and his skin was thin. She could see all the veins bulging out against his skin and Annabeth nearly started crying.

She untied the ropes as quickly as possible, and Percy fell from the tree, away from it.

She went to his aid as quickly as possible.

She checked his pulse and he was breathing. Alive.

She picked him up and carried him about halfway through the small cave before the next set of six horses attacked.

She stabbed and kicked at them, causing them to crumple and lie on the floor.

Annabeth continued to move, knowing she had to get him some kind of nourishment or he surely would die.

A wall of horses formed in front of the entrance to the cave.

Annabeth cursed. Anger surged through her as well as adrenaline, and she shouted, "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!"

She let Percy go, and she screamed and attacked all the horses in her way with her flying foot and cane.

She even punched a few.

Metal heads were flying and metal legs were strewn across the floor.

Dented horse bodies collapsed with every blow, and once Annabeth had severed all the legs off the last horse, she looked back to Percy.

He was still slumped against the floor, like she'd left him.

She hobbled over, picked him up as best as she could, and half carried, half dragged him out of the cave.

She remembered the water hole she'd left open, and she dragged Percy to it.

She remembered what it had done to the blood in the water, and hoping it could rejuvenate him.

She scooped a handful in his mouth, and some of it spilled out and down his chin.

The rest dribbled down his throat.

His eyes suddenly flew open and he took a deep breath. He coughed, and his voice was hoarse. "Annabeth?"

She started to cry.

"Annabeth?"

"It's me," she whispered. "You're okay."

He smiled.

She scooped more water into her hands and she poured it in his mouth.

He more the gave him the better he became. His cheeks started to fill out again, and his veins became less and less visible.

His eyes fit into his skull again, but she still seemed too…thin.

She took another handful, and instead of pouring it in his mouth, she splashed it on his face.

And his face finished looking like his again.

He sat up then, and wiped water out of his eyes.

He looked over at her. "You saved me."

"I couldn't go without you, Seaweed Brain," she said. "I'd be lonely."

"Well, we wouldn't want that, would we?" he asked. And then he kissed her.

Exhaust took over her then, and she fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

Annabeth woke up to water on her face.

She sat up and wiped water out of her eyes. "What was _that _for?"

"I wanted to show you something, and you wouldn't wake up," was Percy's response.

She looked at him. He was kneeling by her ankle. "I decided to pour some water on it. A lot of water, actually. Look."

Annabeth saw no difference.

"So?" she asked.

"Move it," he answered.

And she twirled her broken ankle in a clockwise motion.

No pain. She was healed.

She leapt over herself and flung her arms around his neck in a hug. "You did it!" she squealed. "I'm healed!"

"Tartarus did it, actually," Percy corrected her. "I needed you to show me how to do it, though."

"How did I show you?" she asked as she pulled away from him.

"When you healed me with the water, I thought, 'What if I try it on Annabeth's ankle?' So, I tried it. And it worked."

She smiled. "I'm glad to be of service to you again."

"You were always of service to me," Percy replied. "You just saved my life a couple hours ago."

"Do you think it's really been only hours?" Annabeth asked.

"I have no idea," Percy confessed.

"Well, however long it's been," Annabeth stood up, "we should get moving."

Percy stood up with her.

She bent over to pick up her cane.

"You still want that?" Percy asked.

"Um, excuse me," Annabeth said, "but my _boyfriend _made me this. Plus, it made just about the best weapon fighting those horses. I'd like it to stick around, thank you very much."

Percy smiled. "Fine with me, but _you're _carrying it."

Annabeth laughed. "Deal."

And they walked off together, talking and laughing and being together again, while the eerie possibilities of there quest kept looming into the back of Annabeth's mind.

* * *

**Yay, she got Percy back!**

**YAY, SHE CAN WALK AGAIN! XD!**

**Okay, so that was basically the most climactic thing I've done with them so far in this story, in _my _eyes. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as you could, I'm sorry if it sucked (I feel like it sucked...) and let's see what happens in the stuff I write for tomorrow!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hey, Everyone!**

**I'M SORRY! I had a really busy schedule to get to yesterday, and I forgot to post this chapter! I'm so so so sorry!**

**Enjoy...**

* * *

Chapter 25

Jason

Jason tried his best not to panic.

Thoughts were swimming through his brain: Who is it? Is this person going to kill me? How did they find us?

Jason decided it would be best to fight it.

He grabbed the hand holding his hair and pulled it forward over his shoulder.

He shot his leg out behind him to try to swipe the legs out from under it, but his feet connected with nothing.

And he realized it had no legs.

He wrenched the arm forward again, and it gave him enough momentum to flip the thing over his shoulder.

When it landed on its back in front of him, Jason could see it wasn't a person at all. It was one of those flying snake-fish women that attack the Argo II.

Jason, angry, summoned lightning from the sky.

The woman-beast started to wail in her high-pitched tone, and Jason knew that she was calling others to help her.

"SHUT UP!" Jason shouted, and he brought a huge bolt of crackling lightning down on her.

Her wailing ceased and the beast fried into black dust and blew away.

Jason looked up, and he saw a small swarm, of many ten of those flying fish-snake-beasts coming down toward him.

He gathered all his metal objects and turned to look around at the market people really quickly.

They simply seemed disturbed about the sudden bad weather.

Jason took off running down the path and crashed into the forest, then fell out onto the beach by the ship.

"Oh my gods, Jason," he heard Hazel's voice above him and he looked up.

Leo and Hazel, with streaks of oil, grease, cuts, and dust all over their clothes and face, were looking down at him.

"More women," Jason gasped.

Leo's face lit up.

Hazel shoved him on the arm and rolled her eyes.

"With wings," Jason continued, still a little out of breath. "And snake tails…and fish fins,"

Leo's expression darkened, and Hazel jumped up and ran off, shouting, "PIPER! FRANK! We have a problem!"

Leo helped Jason to his feet, and together, they jogged after Hazel while Leo filled him in on the progress of the ship.

"We still haven't really touched the engine," Leo explained, "because we didn't have any metal, but I can see you covered that."

"Hope it'll be enough."

Leo continued, "The hole is basically done, but we ran out of bronze plates. We still need to melt down the stuff Piper and Frank brought us, and that's going to take a little while. Sorry to tell you, bro, but I can't fight with you today if we're going to get this ship fixed and off the ground."

Jason nodded.

When they reached Hazel, Frank, and Piper, Piper was almost in hysterics.

Jason ran over and hugged her. "Piper, it's not that bad, we fought them before!"

She shook her head. It wasn't about that.

She pointed to the ship and to the mouth of Festus.

The pig was hanging, swinging like a pendulum, on its rope.

Dead.

* * *

**Sorry about how short it is...I hoped you like the ending!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hey, Everyone!**

**Of COURSE I'm still posting today's chapter! Who do you think I am? I try my best to keep my promises!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 26

Hazel

"How did that happen?" Jason asked.

"We think it happened in the crash landing," Hazel said.

_No, no, no, no, no, NO! __Everything is falling apart! _Hazel thought. _The pig, the ship, and now we have to fight _more _of those things?! We're _never _going to get to Nico in time_!

Hazel wasn't going to start crying right then, in front of everyone, but she sure felt like she wanted to.

Instead, she looked around in the sky until she spotted the swarm of flying snake women.

"There they are," Hazel called to them, pointing. She drew her sword. "If we can't save the pig, the best we can do is kill who caused it, right? Let's take our anger out on these things!"

Frank notched an arrow on his bow and pointed it at the sky. And he waited.

Piper drew her small dagger and stood, ready. Then, as Jason drew his sword, she asked, "Where's Leo?"

"Fixing the ship," Hazel replied, and Jason shouted, "Frank, NOW!"

Frank let his arrow fly, and Jason shot electricity after it.

They touched, and instead of frying the arrow, it wrapped around it and added shocking power to its tip.

They didn't see it hit, but they did see one of the women in front jerk to the side suddenly, have a small spasm, and drop out of the sky.

They others watched her for a while, then turned back to the heroes and continued to fly toward them.

"Again!" Jason commanded. "And this time, don't stop shooting!"

Frank let arrow after arrow whizz out stop the barrage of beasts, and Jason sent lightning from the sky down on them, frying a lot and injuring others.

Then, once they got into a certain range, Jason's lightning could blow up the area, so he stopped.

Frank continued to shoot at them, until there were only two left that got close enough to actually fight.

Frank retreated to the pack and Hazel stabbed at the woman.

Hazel took her sword, shoved the tip into the winged woman's arm and dragged it down from the elbow, around to the inside of the arm, and down to the inside of the wrist.

Then she kicked her in the face and watched her fall backward, hit her head on the ground, and lay there.

"What are you?" Hazel hissed.

"Isn't it obvious?" she hissed back. "We're Echidna. Only…better."

There was suddenly a dagger in her neck, and she turned to dust. Hazel kicked the ashes around, sending some flying into the nearby ocean.

Piper came over, kicked up her weapon and sheathed it again. "You're welcome."

Hazel smiled. "Thanks."

_What did she mean, "better"? Was she trying to tell me something? Maybe this is all a trick_, she thought.

"Hey, Hazel!" Leo called out. She turned toward the boat, trying not to look at the pig, which had stopped swinging. "I need your help back here!"

Hazel nodded and ran toward the ship.

"I've already made three more medium sized sheets of bronze," Leo told her excitedly. "They're over there," he pointed toward the engine, "next to the engine, and there's a hammer over there, too. I was wondering if _maybe _you could hammer them on for me while I finish making new ones?"

Hazel nodded. "Sure, Leo."

She walked over to the Celestial Bronze sheets and walked back over to the hole. She started hammering the metal to another piece, when she suddenly blurted, "The pig's dead."

Hazel could hear Leo drop his piece of equipment. "What?"

"We think it was the crash landing," Hazel explained, turning around.

Leo wasn't sad, like she'd expected him to be. He was angry. Really angry.

Leo turned back to his work, gritting his teeth. He picked up his piece of equipment, a slightly rusted hammer, and went back to pounding on the Celestial bronze pieces. "We're getting this ship off the ground and into the air _today_, Hazel. If you're not up for the work, then I'll do it alone."

"I can do it," Hazel replied, turned back around to continue working herself.

They worked in silence; the only sounds were the sounds of hammers on bronze and sheets of bronze being thrown at an engine.

Hazel walked back over to get another sheet, they only needed one more, when Leo said, "That's it. That's all we have."

"No," Hazel said. "There has to be more!"

Leo shook his head. "There isn't."

"The stuff that Jason brought," Hazel said suddenly, remembering.

"Oh yeah," Leo said. "Hazel, would you get them?"

Hazel pulled herself through the small hole, and found the Celestial bronze and metal items sitting on the ground.

Hazel grabbed all the teapots and other items and threw them through the hole and onto the floor of the ship.

Hazel climbed back in after them, and she saw Leo pounding the Celestial Bronze into a sheet big enough to cover the rectangular sized hole.

He handed it straight to Hazel this time, and she took the hammer, and hammered the hole shut.

The inside of the ship was suddenly dark.

"Would you help me over here?" Leo called out to her.

"I would," Hazel replied, "but I can't see."

Leo lit a fire ball in his hand, and Hazel could see him kneeling by the engine with some regular metal near him.

She brought herself and the hammer over, and Leo pulled out another one, and Hazel and Leo, who was working one-handed, were able to cover the holes in the engine.

Leo pressed the button.

The engine roared the life so loudly that Hazel jumped back in alarm.

Leo laughed a little bit, and then shouted, "WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS, BABY!"

Hazel smiled and cheered, and they climbed up the stairs and onto the deck.

"Guys, the engine's working!" Hazel shouted to the small group of friends below. "The hole is fixed, we're ready to go!"

They all climbed up onto the ship, and Leo ran off to his post as the captain's dashboard.

"ALL ABOARD THE ARGO II!" Leo shouted to everyone.

Hazel made sure everyone they had was with them, and then she shouted, "ALL CLEAR!"

"Let's get this show on the road!" Leo shouted, and he lifted the Argo II off the ground and into the air with ease.

"Yes!" Leo shouted. "We did it!"

"But," Frank stepped in, "where do we go, if we don't have the pig to guide us anymore?"

The entire deck was silent.

* * *

**Piper: Frank, you party pooper! We were _celebrating_!**

**Frank: I'm trying to be rational here! We had no idea where we were going!**

**Jason: Guys, chill! It's alright, don't worry about it! We're going to figure something out and everything will be alright!**

**Me: ...**

**So, I hope you enjoyed my latest chapter, and please, don't forget to tell your friends about this AWESOME author you're reading about on FanFictions! ;). I'm kidding. I'm not THAT awesome...**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hey, Everyone!**

**Sorry about not posting yesterday, I was relying on someone to help me because I was from my computer yesterday (as I will be the rest of today, tomorrow, Easter, and Monday) but, he or she did not.**

**Sorry, I'll still be posting today's, don't worry!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 27

Annabeth

"Did you find any leads while I was…gone?" Percy asked.

"No," she replied. "I was too focused on finding you."

He nodded. "Annabeth, we need to find these doors. Something tells me that they gang is closer than we are."

"I know, Percy, I know. Let's try _not _to get abducted again, okay?" Annabeth offered. "Either of us."

"Agreed."

They continued to walk together, holding hands, Annabeth's cane dangling from an empty belt loop, when Percy stopped her and said, "What would you have done, if you hadn't saved me?"

Annabeth turned to him. She stared him straight in the eyes. "That wasn't a possibility."

And they continued walking, Annabeth completely dismissing the question.

They joked about rock formations, they talked about their futures, they talked about their pasts, and then Percy said, "We need to talk about right now."

Annabeth nodded. "What's the plan?"

They sat on the ground and Percy said, "I thought that was _your _job."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and said, "We keep searching until we find the Doors of Death. Then we defeat whatever's guarding it, and in the very slim chance that nothing's guarding it, we stand and wait for some sort of signal that the others are on the other side."

"And how slim, exactly, are the chances of it being unguarded?"

"Well," Annabeth put her singer to the ground and started drawing. "Since these doors staying open is pretty important to the other side, so there's a .1% chance that it _won't _be guarded." She wrote the number into the ground with her finger.

"Now, we also have to facture in the fact that we're demigods," Annabeth wrote the word "demigod" in the sand and circled it, then drew a plus sign between the .1% and the word. "That brings it down to .001% chance of being guarded." She wrote the new number underneath the old pieces of data. "And now we have to facture in the simple fact that we're not just demigods, we're Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase." She wrote the names "Percy Jackson" and "Annabeth Chase" and circled them, then put a plus sign between the names and the new number. "That brings it to a .0000000000000001% chance of it _not _being guarded." She wrote the new number under the math, and underlined it.

Percy laughed. "What are the odds of us defeating this creature?"

"Well, that all depends on what creature it is, and the number."

Percy continued to ask her stupid "mathematical" questions, and Annabeth continued to act as if she knew what she was talking about.

After a couple minutes, they had decided that if the monster had less than two eyes, more than three, more than two arms, and knew how to bake cookies to Percy's standards, they were going to have a little trouble defeating the thing.

But, they were still Percy and Annabeth. That factor kept popping up.

They also determined, however, that if the beast _didn't _know how to bake cookies to Percy's standards, then it was going to die. No question about it.

"Let's keep moving," Annabeth stood up and helped Percy to his feet. "We should look for clues to see if we can tell where the Doors of Death are as we keep moving."

"My vision from earlier still stands," Percy replied as they started walking again. "A basically barren area, with the open Doors, radiating light. Except now, there's a monster standing nearby holding a tray of burnt cookies."

Annabeth laughed. Her boyfriend was really weird sometimes, but sometimes she just needed a little weird.

"I'm really kind of surprised," Annabeth told him. "We haven't run into _anybody _we didn't defeat already."

"You know, I was thinking the same thing," Percy replied.

Annabeth's legs grew tired from continuous movement, and she stopped Percy. "We should rest here. I can't go any longer."

Percy knelt down beside her as she sat down and he started to dig a water hole.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she turned to him as he hit water. "Can you control this water?"

Percy raised a hand, and a couple droplets of water floated through the air toward his hand. "A little bit. I was trying to move the whole puddle!"

Annabeth sighed and flattened her back onto the clayish dirt.

Percy flopped back beside her, and she adjusted herself so her head was resting on his chest, and his arm was around her shoulders.

"Goodnight, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth whispered as she closed her eyes.

"Night, Wise Girl. I think…" Percy responded sleepily.

Annabeth heard something that sounded a little like a pebble, being crushed, but she fell asleep before she could worry about it.

* * *

**Whoa…things just got intense!**

**What do you guys think it is? I'm kinda worried myself…XP!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Hey, Everyone!**

**Another day, another chapter! Sorry for shortness!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 28

Leo

_Way to ruin the moment, Frank_, Leo thought pessimistically. _We were all excited about getting the ship back in there air, and now we're all quiet_.

"Okay, this might be a little of course of some of our major goals," Leo looked over at Hazel quickly, then continued, "but I think we should just head to Greece now."

"But what about-" Hazel started, but Leo cut her off. "Nico, I know. Listen, Hazel, I know you want to look for your brother, and we want to look for him, too, but we have to get to Greece to stop Gaea and close the doors. Plus, they probably took him there, anyway. He's probably in Greece now, with them! And I get some weird feeling that Percy and Annabeth are already there…"

"Really?" Piper asked. "Because I get the feeling they _really _aren't."

"I have a feeling they're-" Frank mumbled, and Leo shouted, "Don't even SAY IT!"

"EVERYBODY COOL IT!" Piper shouted. "I didn't mean to start something, but Leo, I really don't think they're anywhere near them. We have time."

Leo sighed. Everybody was losing it. He could feel it. This was too stressful. Leo _sucked _when he was stressed.

"I'm going back to my cabin to work on the Sphere," he said. "_After _I program auto-pilot to Ioannina. That's the closest place on the map that's not right on it."

"Why don't you just land in Eprius?" Jason asked.

"Dude, Eprius is a palace in Ioannina," Leo replied.

"The Doors of Death are in someone's _palace_?" Piper asked.

"Well, 'Good luck storming the castle!'" Leo said, laughed to himself, and walked back over the dashboard.

He messed with the Wii remote and finally set the GPS to the right place.

"Um, Leo?" he heard Hazel's voice behind him, and he turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Well…I'm going to guess that was a quote from somewhere," Hazel began, "what you just said, and I was wondering if it was a movie or TV show or something you liked."

"You'd _never _seen Princess Bride?" Leo asked, kind of shocked. He'd seen that movie when he was a kid, with his mom. That was one of his favorite movies.

"I was dead for a while," Hazel admitted.

"But it's kind of an oldie," Leo replied. "Made in 1987 based off a book written in 1973. Never read the book, though."

"I was born in 1928," Hazel said.

"Oh." Leo was quiet. "It's hard to remember. You look so young!"

Hazel laughed. "Thanks. Anyway, I was wondering if maybe you could show it to me?"

Leo smiled. "I think I have it in my cabin somewhere. Let's see if I can find it."

"It's not a date," Hazel reminded him. "I have a boyfriend."

"It's two friends, watching a movie," Leo reassured her. "Don't worry."

"I'm just going to tell Frank," Hazel said, and she ran off.

Leo waited by the stairs. The deck was empty except for Frank, Hazel, and Leo.

Leo watched Hazel talk to Frank, and he remembered what he'd heard her say about feeling trapped, or held on to too tight.

Leo sighed. He felt bad knowing. He knew he wasn't supposed to know. She'd freak out if she knew he knew.

_It's not a date_, he thought as Hazel walked back over to him. He followed her down the stairs, and then led her into his room.

Hazel sat on Leo's bed as he looked around his room for the DVD. He was sure he'd brought it with him. He liked to watch it at least once a week.

When he finally found it (it was inside the DVD player) he turned on his TV and started it up.

* * *

"Did you like the movie?" Leo asked after it was over.

"The ending was kind of expected," Hazel admitted as Leo turned the TV back off. "And I liked the little boy. The movie was nice, though. I'm glad you showed it to me."

Leo smiled.

"Hey, what time is it?" she asked.

He looked at his watch. It was slightly cracked, but he could still read it. "About 7:30."

"I want to show you something," Hazel said and grabbed his hand.

She dragged him out of his room and back up to the deck.

"I was looking at this stuff on the computer, astronomy and stuff like that, I don't know why, and I found that this was coming up," Hazel told him, and she pointed to the sky.

A beautiful aurora lit the sky above them.

The colors changed and folded, almost as if it was a flag, folding over itself and creating waves within the cloth.

The colors ranged from pale green to dark purple that nearly blended into the sky.

"Oh gods," Leo gasped. "That's beautiful, Hazel."

"I know," she breathed.

Leo continued to look through the sky, when he saw an odd image in the stars.

"Hazel, what constellation is that?" Leo asked, pointing to it.

"Um…" Hazel asked. "Where?"

Leo connected the stars together with his finger. A double face, one smiling, one frowning.

"That's not a constellation, Leo," Hazel said, confused. "At least, not one _I've _ever seen."

And then, it disappeared. Leo couldn't find it anymore.

"Where'd it go?" Hazel asked.

"No idea."

"Let's go back into the cabins," Hazel suggested, and they took one last look at the aurora above them, then they ran back below deck.

They said their goodbyes, and Leo closed his cabin door and sat down on the bed.

_What could that have been_?

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUNNN! What's in the sky? Oh gods…;)**

**Well, hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Hey, Everyone!**

**WHAT? _Another _chapter? Please explain your madness, Kimmie G914!**

**Glad to.**

**So, I won't be in an area with wi-fi for the next couple days, so I'm going to post all the chapter for the days I'll be away! You can read them all at once, you can space them out so it's one per day (Like intended. This chapter would be Saturday's) and then you can read a chapter a day until I come back Tuesday! But, like I said, you CAN read them all at once...if you want...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 29

Hazel

Hazel woke up worrying about the face in the sky.

She focused back on the lit-up computer screen, which Hazel had been using that night to look for any constellations that matched the one Leo and she had seen yesterday.

So far, there was no pattern like it.

"I'm telling you, Jason, it's real!" Hazel heard from outside her door.

"Leo, it was probably just a weird dream," Jason replied. "We really don't have time for these crazy incidents right now."

"Well too bad," Leo countered, "because they're happening!"

The talking faded too much, and Hazel could no longer hear it as the boys continued walking down the hall.

Hazel changed into a clean shirt and ran her fingers quickly through her hair, and ran out of her room to follow them.

She found them on the deck, still arguing.

"He's right," Hazel shouted to them. "That thing in the stars was real. I saw it, too."

Jason turned to look at her, and Leo smiled at her.

She walked up to them.

"What did it look like?" Jason asked.

"A two-faced head," Hazel responded. "One happy and the other sad."

"You're telling the same story," Jason said, looked at both of them. "So it pretty much has to be true. Unless you planned this last night."

"Are you _kidding _me?" Leo asked. "There was a freaking two-faced head in the sky! Made out of stars!"

"It was probably some stupid constellations," Jason said.

"I tried looking it up," Hazel said. "There's nothing like it. It's not a real constellation. It was there, then it was gone."

"Seriously?" Jason asked.

"YES!" they both said.

"Leo, how close are we to Ioannina?" Jason asked, completely dismissing the topic now.

"You have to believe us, dude!" Leo continued to press him.

"How close are we?" Jason snapped.

Leo fell quiet. "I think a couple days away. I'm not sure."

"Go check," Jason replied.

He walked off and did what he was told.

Hazel felt very uncomfortable next to Jason now.

"Is it true?" he asked. "If there's some weird thing going on, you need to tell me. Otherwise, we'll have a serious issue."

"There was an image in the stars that looked _really _realistic to a head with two faces," Hazel told him. "We both saw it. It's real. I'm worried about what it means."

"It probably doesn't mean anything," Jason replied.

_I hope not_, Hazel thought, but she decided to go below deck and talk to Frank. He might be a little worried after her seeing that movie with Leo last night.

* * *

"Hey, Hazel," Frank opened the door. "You alright?"

"I can't visit you without there being a problem?" Hazel asked and stepped into his room.

"Sorry, I thought you had a system," Frank closed the door behind her. "Come to me when you want a kiss or a cuddle or have a problem, and go to Valdez for everything else."

"Frank," Hazel whispered. She knew he was upset now.

"Have I been neglecting you?" he asked, finally turning away from the door and facing her. "Did I push you away from me some how?"

"Frank, no," she said, adjusting her position on the bed. "It's not like that, it's just-"

"Are you getting tired of me then?" Frank asked.

"Frank, _no_!" Hazel stood up. "Frank, I watched a movie with a friend! It was no different than me watching a movie with Piper!"

"Except Piper isn't a _boy_," Frank replied, "that has a _crush _on you!"

"Leo and I are just friends! I made it very clear that I just wanted to be friends with him, he understood, and now we're _friends_! Frank, why do you always think I'm-!" Hazel stopped.

She was outraged, angry, frustrated, and a little bit hurt. Frank didn't trust her. There really was no point in continuing the conversation.

She opened his door and left.

"Hazel?" Frank shouted after her. "Hazel, come back! I'm sorry!"

_I can't believe he doesn't trust me_, Hazel thought. _After all the time he's known me_!

* * *

**Frank: But, Hazel…you have my wooden stick! You literally have my life! How do you think I don't trust you?**

**Hazel: Frank…(sigh)…that's what I'm **_**supposed **_**to say!**

**Frank: Oh yeah!**

**Sorry for shortness!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Hey, Everyone!**

**This is the last chapter before Tuesday! But don't worry, I won't have you waiting _too _long. After all, I AM posting again Thursday! ;)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 30

Annabeth

When Annabeth opened her eyes, she was slung over someone's shoulder.

At first, she panicked. She didn't know what it was.

She started kicked.

"Hey!" Percy's voice said. "You almost kicked my eye out!"

She stopped fight. "Percy, what's going on?"

"We're being attacked," Percy replied. "And you were sleeping, so I grabbed you and ran."

"By what?" Annabeth asked, looking around. She couldn't see anything but the gray sky and the rust colored terrain.

"The fury I met when I was twelve!" Percy laughed. "Who'd a thought she was still mad at me!"

"Wouldn't she have escaped to come attack you in person?" Annabeth asked.

"She doesn't know where the doors are, either," Percy replied. "Believe me, I asked."

Annabeth laughed. "Percy, you can put me down now."

Percy put her down, and they ran together.

She drew her cane like a sword when she saw that Percy still had Riptide out.

"I don't see her anywhere," Annabeth mentioned as she looked around.

"She's flying above us," Percy replied. "Just keep moving."

Annabeth looked up, and sure enough, flying about them, was that sick fury.

"I'm going to rip your heart out, Percy Jackson!" she screeched. "And then I'll claw the eyes out of your precious girlfriend!"

"That's just another part of being Percy and Annabeth," Percy joked. "Over my head body!" he shouted to the fury.

She swooped down on them, and Percy pulled Annabeth to the ground and stuck his sword in the air.

By the way she screeched, Annabeth could tell he had hit her.

He dragged her back to her feet and pulled her along again.

"She's hurt, but that's not going to stop her here," Percy told her. "This is Tartarus, after all. Where else would she go but here when she died?"

That dawned on Annabeth. "We can't kill her?"

"Not to my knowledge," Percy confirmed, and the fury screamed again and dove, this time talons out.

Percy slashed his sword across her chest and fell onto the ground with a soft thud.

Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand as he dragged her along with him.

"We have to go! Now! Anywhere is safer than here!" Percy replied.

"Run, little demigods!" she squealed from the ground. "You can't defeat me, not here!"

A thought surfaced in Annabeth's head and she stopped.

"You can't _die _here," Annabeth said. She ripped her hand out of Percy's grasp and walked over to the fury on the ground. "So that means you can't escape the pain was cause."

"I will heal," she hissed. "I can fight back!"

"Not if we keep it up," Percy was beside her now, catching on.

"Honestly, fighting us in the human world seems more like a blessing now, in your case, to me," Annabeth continued. "At least then you can escape the pain."

"You lie!" she spat.

To prove their point, Annabeth took the thicker end of her cane and smacked her across the face with it, then punched her in the face with it.

Half her face was sand, and she sat there, hissing at us.

Percy stabbed her again, cutting up her arms, and she squealed and hissed.

"So, I think _we _have the advantage here," Annabeth continued. "What do _you _think?"

She hissed at Annabeth, and Percy smacked her across the face again with the butt of Riptide.

"We've decided to spare you the pain, however," Annabeth continued, "but you have to promise not to pursue us."

"Why would I do that?" she questioned.

"Because if you do," Percy said, "we'll have to torture you. For quite a while."

The fury said nothing.

Annabeth grabbed Percy hand, told the fury, "Nice decision," and they ran off together.

"Nice one, Annabeth, you really saved our butts," Percy said as they continued to look around for the Doors of Death.

Annabeth shrugged. "It's what I do. So, she didn't tell you _anything _about the Doors of Death?"

Percy shook his head. "Nothing except she doesn't know where they are."

Annabeth sighed. They'd have to deal with this little bit of information for a while, not knowing anything about the location of the doors except that they were in Tartarus.

And Greece.

"Annabeth, I need water," Percy said.

They stopped, dug a hole, and drank some water.

Percy covered the hole as Annabeth fell back on the ground and said, "Percy, I need a lead."

"Sorry, Annabeth, but we'll find them, don't worry," Percy promised.

Annabeth sat up. She looked at him. "We need to ask the monsters."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"We need to ask the monsters in Tartarus where the Doors are!" Annabeth stood up, and Percy stood up. "They have to know, they've been escaping the entire time!"

"That is a really great idea, Annabeth, except for the fact that it's _really _dangerous!" Percy said, grabbing her hand.

"It's not like we're helpless, Percy," Annabeth said. "That's just another fact to add to the Percy and Annabeth factor."

Percy laughed. Then, he said, "We don't know what kind of terrain we'll find them in. What if they're in the ground? What if they're underwater? What if they're in the freaking clouds?"

"Then we need to dig, swim, or climb to them," Annabeth replied without hesitation. "As long as we're together."

Percy smiled. "As long as we're together."

* * *

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW WWWWWWWW! Percabeth!**

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, see you again Tuesday!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	31. Chapter 31

**Hey, Everyone!**

**DON'T HATE ME I'M SORRY! MY LIFE GOT A LITTLE OUT OF HAND AND I SPENT THE COUPLE WEEKS GETTING IT BACK ON TRACK! **

**But don't worry, I'm on track now, so you can all breathe easier and _stop being mad at me_.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 31

Leo

Leo hadn't spoken to Hazel all afternoon.

He really wanted to, but the death glares from Frank made him think better of it.

Honestly, if you saw a guy like Frank giving a small guy like you a death glare for no good reason at all, you don't just go up to him and say, "Wassup?" or go about whatever you were about to do before you saw him glaring at you, do you?

No, you turn away and run.

And that was Leo's logic.

He couldn't help thinking, _maybe the whole movie thing was a bad idea_?

But Hazel seemed to have had fun, so it couldn't have been _so _bad.

Except at the end, when they saw the double-face in stars.

He needed to talk to her about that, whether Frank wanted him to or not, because she was the only other one who saw it.

He decided to man the ship for a while, first, and make sure Frank was gone before he asked her about it.

He felt like a weak boyfriend scared of his girlfriend's father.

When he made sure everything was in order, and there was nothing crazy on the radar, and that the switch to keep them concealed was firmly in place for the air, and he left the deck to search for Hazel.

Hazel had been stargazing on the deck ever since they saw the face, but today, she wasn't around.

Instead, Piper was standing by the railing.

He didn't want to disturb Piper, so he decided he would go and knock on Hazel's cabin door, when he heard Piper yell, "Leo, hey! Wait up; I have to talk to you!"

Leo turned and waited for Piper to run up to him.

"Listen, Piper, I'm really not in the mood for you're insults right now-" Leo started dismissively and he turned around to go downstairs, when she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back with a force he wasn't expecting.

"I'm not here to insult you, Idiot," she began, and Leo threw his hands up in the air.

"I heard," she continued, "about what you told Jason about the double face in the sky."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "So? I thought you weren't here to insult me?"

"I'm not!" Piper continued. "I saw it, too."

Leo blinked. _That _wasn't what he had been expecting.

"I was looking out the window in my cabin, watching the aurora, and I saw the weird constellation in the sky that looked like two faces. I tried looking it up, I tried reading forums about stargazing, everything, but _nothing _came up about a two-faced constellation.

"At first I thought _I _was the only one, so I didn't bring it up, but I heard Jason talking to himself about it, and I had to come talk to you." She smiled at him, which wasn't a look he got very often from Piper.

"Hazel was with me," Leo told her. "And I wanted to talk with her about it, but Frank has a death sentence out for me, and for some reason she wasn't on the deck tonight."

"I've been wondering why she's been staring at the sky every night," she whispered.

"Would you go down to her cabin and get her for me?" Leo asked. "Just tell her we all need to meet on the deck."

"Will do," Piper winked at him and ran off below deck.

At least she didn't salute like she had started to do in sarcasm when he gave instructions.

* * *

After a couple minutes, Piper returned, alone.

"Where is she?" Leo asked.

"She's not in her cabin," Piper replied. "I wanted to check in with you before I went to the next place she'd be."

Leo nodded. "Okay. Um, did you see anything in her cabin?"

"Yeah, a bunch of diamonds and emeralds were scattered in a small circle on the floor in the middle of her room," Piper shrugged. "I assumed it was something she was doing. Was I wrong?"

_She makes gems when she's nervous_, Leo thought, alarmed. _What could she be doing that would make her nervous_?

"I'm not sure. You check where ever, but I'm going to check above deck," Leo replied.

Piper nodded and ran back below deck.

Leo ran across the deck to the front of Festus, but she wasn't around.

He ran below deck and into his room.

There was nothing there, and everything remained untouched.

"LEO!" Piper shouted. "LEO, HELP ME OUT HERE!"

Alarmed and scared, Leo ran down the hallway, following the sound of Piper's voice.

"This is completely unreasonable!" Piper yelled. "LEO!"

When Leo stumbled upon the scene, Frank had his back pressed against his cabin door, and Piper was screaming at him.

"We want to _talk _with her!" Piper said. "What can he do in front of me, anyway?"

"I'm not taking that chance," Frank replied. "You have to understand, I'm not hurting her or anything. I don't want to lose her!"

"If she wakes up, and she finds out we were here, and I _will _tell her, Frank Zhang, she will be pissed enough, and you _may _lose her!" Piper threatened. "Let her _out_!"

"What?" Leo asked.

Frank turned to him and his eyes narrowed and he glared at Leo.

"Stop it!" Piper smacked him on the arm. "_Move_."

"No!" Frank turned back to Piper. His eyes were pleading. "Please be quieter, I don't want her to wake up."

"What?" Leo repeated his question.

"Hazel's in there, sleeping," Piper informed him, anger tinged in her words, her glare never leaving Frank. "He won't let us in to see her."

Rage boiled in Leo faster than he could light a blowtorch, and he was tempted to burn the skin off Frank's face.

"Not if _Valdez _is involved," Frank spat at him.

His hand lit up. "Don't mess with me, Frank, just move. It's not like I'm going to hold her prisoner from her friends, like _someone _I'm looking at."

Frank pressed himself harder against the door. "Neither of you are coming in, and she's not leaving. She's _sleeping_, give her some space."

"This is _important_, Frank!" Piper threw her arms in the air.

"If it was really important, we'd be fighting something," Frank replied. "It's probably nothing."

The words spilled out before Leo could stop them, "When Hazel said she felt like you were holding onto her too tight, I didn't think she'd meant _literally_."

Frank's look of anger changed to a look of shock. "She…she said that?" Back to anger. "To _you_?"

"No, to Sammy," Leo pointed at the ceiling. "She doesn't know I heard. And that's how you _know _it's true."

Tears, of anger or betrayal, Leo couldn't tell, pooling in Frank's eyes.

He shook his head. "She wouldn't say that."

"But she did," Leo said through gritted teeth. "You don't want her to break-up with you? _Give her freedom_. Now, move, before I burn the door to ashes."

Piper didn't say a word.

Frank, head hung, and his body shuddering, moved to the side.

Leo just barely extinguished his hand in time before grabbing the doorknob, then he pushed the door open.

Hazel was asleep on Frank's bed, and Leo felt bad for disturbing her, but he whispered her name until her eyes fluttered open.

"Leo?" she whispered, sitting up. "What is it?"

"Piper and I want to talk to you on the deck," Leo whispered.

"Can't it wait?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"It's about the faces in the sky," Leo pressed. "Piper saw it, too."

"Let's go."

* * *

Guilt was eating Leo up inside.

What he'd said to Frank was beyond forgiving, and Piper wouldn't look him in the eye. He knew she felt it, too.

"So," Hazel was the first one to speak once they were out on the deck under the stars, "what's this I heard about Piper seeing the faces?"

So Piper quickly explained to Hazel how she'd seen it, too, not even acknowledging Leo.

Leo couldn't tell her, but if she was confronted by Frank later because of his actions…

Well, _he'd _want to know in advance.

"Um, Hazel," Leo started. "There's something I have to tell you."

"Sure, Leo, what is it?" she asked.

And he told her.

And as he explained, the color drained from her face with every word.

"You were listening to my conversation?" she whispered, so quickly it was barely audible.

"I didn't mean to, really, Hazel, it was a serious mistake!" Leo pleaded. "You have to believe me-"

"How could you _tell _him?" Hazel's glare felt like daggers in his heart.

"I was trying to get to you-" he pleaded, but she cut him off by putting her hand up.

"Not another word, Leo Valdez," Hazel sighed. "Now I have to go fix this with Frank." And she turned on her heel and stalked below deck.

"Smooth move, genius," Piper muttered.

"I thought it would be better if I told her now," Leo sighed. "That way the shock wouldn't be there when she went downstairs."

Piper shrugged. "I guess. But I think this whole scenario would have been better if you hadn't mentioned it at all to begin with."

Leo ran a hand through his hair. "Me too."

In a frustrated huff, he walked over to the control panel.

He checked the GPS and found they were only about eighteen hours from their destination.

"Um, _Leo_!" Piper hissed suddenly, and when he looked back at her, she was pointing at the sky.

He ran next to her, and looked where she was pointing.

Again, the pattern of stars in the sky shaped two faces, each on one side of the head.

* * *

**Oh, Leo, you keep screwing up...**

**The face is back? *Gasp* What is it?**

**;)**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	32. Chapter 32

**Hey, Everyone!**

**Okay, sorry for the wimpy chapter! (Apologizing in advance!)**

**But I also am going to have to re-make my updating schedule. With soccer practice (rec, not my school team...I didn't make it) on Thursdays now, I don't really have time to update anymore on Thursdays, and I can't do Wednesdays, so...I think I'm going to update Saturdays.**

**I'll update on Saturday just to see how I like it and finalize the change.**

**Enjoy! (If you can...)**

* * *

Chapter 32

Annabeth

Annabeth and Percy finally made it to the next terrain.

"This is my _element_, Wise Girl!" Percy said excitedly. "We'll be in and out of here in no time!"

He kicked off his shoes and started pulling off his socks when Annabeth stopped him.

"Percy, what if this isn't actually water? What if it's…I don't know, _acid _or something? Can we check first?" she pleaded.

He sighed and found a small stick.

He walked over to the water's edge and poked the stick in slowly.

When he pulled the stick out, it was covered in black squirming things.

Percy yelped and chucked the stick in the water.

He ran back over to Annabeth and gasped, "Not…swimming…in _there_!"

Annabeth laughed a little. "That's why we check first. Because last time I checked, you're 'element' wasn't black worms."

Percy rolled her eyes. "Haha, Wise Girl, let's just go."

"Well where do we go? _How _do we go?" Annabeth asked. "We have to do something."

Percy crashed down on the sand and sighed really dramatically. "Being a hero is so _hard_. We should quit and just build a house down here and live forever."

Annabeth laughed. "As much as I'd like that, living with you, I think we should get back to the main world before we do that."

Percy sighed dramatically again and sighed, "If you _say _so." He smiled at her and then stood beside her.

"Maybe we could build a boat," Annabeth offered. "Do you know where we could find more sticks?"

"Around this entire beach," Percy opened his arms wide to the seemingly normal beach. "For a beach it seems to be more sticks and rocks than sand."

"We'll need wet sand anyway, to hold the sticks together," Annabeth offered. "At least, we can try."

Percy nodded. "Because we _always _have to try, right Wise Girl?"

"Actually, I said _check_, Seaweed Brain," she shoved him forward and commanded, "Now let's get started."

* * *

Annabeth really didn't know how long it had truly taken for them to put all the sticks together and enough sand to keep it together, along with the help of some rocks and smaller sticks.

"Wait," Annabeth grabbed Percy's arm to stop him from pushing their raft into the water. "We need to check first."

He threw his hands up in the air and stared at the sky. "Of course. Of _course_. Because this is _Wise _Girl we're talking about here. She doesn't do anything without checking first."

She stuck her tongue out at him and walked over to a smaller version she'd made (much, _much _smaller) of the raft, and slid that into the water.

"What are we testing exactly?" Percy's voice behind her scared her out of her skin, but she shook it off.

"The worms," Annabeth explained. "To see if they'll devour the wood or coat the raft or just decorate the bottom."

Percy nodded. "Alright, let's see what happens."

And the raft continued to drift. No damage done.

"Perfect," Annabeth smiled. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

After a little while of drifting on the ocean, Annabeth became really drowsy.

"You tired, Annabeth?" Percy asked.

She nodded.

"You can sleep, I'll keep watch."

She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep on the floor of the raft.

_Annabeth Chase._

_ Oh, gods_, Annabeth thought. _Am I having another one of those dreams again_?

Annabeth was staring into a vast sea of darkness.

_Heroes Fight for the Doors of Death_

_ But Have to Fight_

_ Dead Man's Last Breathe._

_ To Close the Doors,_

_ They Play Both Sides,_

_ And Please the God_

_ Of Truth and Lies_.

_What_? Annabeth thought. _Was that the Prophecy_?

Annabeth's eyes flew open to Percy violently shaking her.

"Annabeth, I don't think we checked well enough," Percy said anxiously.

Annabeth gave him a questioning look.

"The worms are starting to engulf the ship."

* * *

**Well, they know the Prophecy now, AND a cliffhanger?**

**Good thing the next update is only 2 days away, right? ;)**

**Again, so so so so so so SO sorry this chapter was awful, I was just trying to update on time for you guys!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	33. Chapter 33

**Hey, Everyone!**

**Sorry about not updating yesterday...but I think Sunday has become my day.**

**Thanks for cooperating with me, it means a lot. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 33

Jason

Jason woke up to screaming.

Not the blood-curdling screams of his friends fighting monsters and dying, but the frustrated screams of people arguing.

He rolled out of bed and ran a hand quickly through his hair as he climbed up to the deck in his pajamas.

"…and if you would only listen for a minute-"

"-I can't believe you would-"

"-Not again, really-"

"Gods, Leo!"

"-How _could _you even think about-"

"-Look, can't we discuss this-"

"NO!"

"You're gonna wake-"

"No one gives a-"

"-get back to this-"

"-Oh my gods!"

"HEY!" Jason shouted. "What are you guys _arguing _about?"

"Didn't I _tell _you we were gonna wake him up?" Piper asked and walked over to him and gave him a hug.

"What are you guys arguing about?" Jason repeated.

"It's just-" Leo started, but Hazel cut in, "Leo happened."

Frank nodded. "No kidding."

"Well, you guys don't have to pick on him," Piper said from Jason's side. "It was a mistake-"

"Like you would know-"

"Can we just talk about-"

"NO! We need to settle this-"

"HEY!" Jason shouted again. "Stop arguing! Leo, how close are we to our destination?"

"A couple hours," Leo murmured. "Really, only one or two hours."

Jason nodded.

"Can we talk about this a little more…privately, please?" Jason heard Hazel whisper to Frank.

"Why not?" Frank replied. "Let's just get this over with."

Jason walked over to the control panel, and Leo followed him.

The GPS was beeping and he could see that they were flying above Greece at the moment.

"Now, what are you guys arguing about?" Jason asked Leo quietly.

Leo sighed and Jason heard two sets of footsteps leaving the deck. "I…happened, just like Hazel said."

Jason sighed. "Man, I don't know what you did, but it seems pretty serious. You can talk to me, bro, if you need anything."

"Yeah," Leo nodded. "Yeah, yeah, okay."

Jason knew he wasn't making the situation any better, so he decided not to press Leo any longer.

"See you in a couple hours," Jason backed away from the dashboard.

"Where you going?" Leo called after him.

"We're landing soon and I look like a wreck. I need to get ready," Jason replied. "I might need to use this charm to get into some places."

Leo laughed. "Wait until Piper hears about _that_."

And Jason couldn't help it; he laughed a little, too.

* * *

Jason was dressed and drying his hair in his cabin when the boat shook and started to groan.

Jason leapt to his feet and tried to keep a steady stance.

Then the boat hit something with a shudder and stopped completely, sending Jason crashing into his bed.

He stood back up and walked up onto the deck.

Everyone was standing on the deck was Leo started lowering the ladders.

Jason smiled and walked confidently up to the rail. He smiled to the land below him and shouted, "Everyone! Welcome to Greece!"

* * *

**WELCOME TO GREECE, READERS!**

**But...only on chapter 33? Does that mean the story is ending soon?**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Hey, Everyone!**

**It's Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY! XD!**

**Dang it, now I want some ice cream. XP!**

**Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! It's kind of a filler/productive. You'll see why I say that once you read it!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 34

Hazel

Hazel hadn't been in Greece, but she'd always wanted to go.

It wasn't Rome, and it probably wasn't as beautiful, but it was still mythology, and Hazel thought it was still important to her.

"Okay, I say we get moving," Jason said.

"To where?" Frank asked.

"The palace, Idiot," Piper snapped.

"Hey, I thought _I _was idiot!" Leo said with fake hurt.

"Don't worry," Hazel muttered, "you are."

Jason laughed, and when Leo glared at her, she said, "You set yourself up for that one."

"Come on, let's hurry up and _go_," Piper grabbed Jason hand and shoved him toward the ladder.

They had stopped above the lake closest to the palace. Hazel hadn't planned on taking a swim, but what else could they do?

"Nice way of getting us to blend in," Hazel told him as she approached him by the ladder. "'Cause we all know that these people are always soaked to the bone."

"Actually, there was a severe rainstorm here that only ended a couple hours ago," Leo informed her. "We were the unlucky bunch of rowdy teenagers that got caught in the storm."

Leo climbed down the ladder after that and plunged into the water below, along with Piper and Jason, who were already swimming to the shore.

"IT'S SO COLD!" Leo shouted from below once he surfaced.

Frank came up behind her. "Are you going to go or am I going to wait for you?"

Hazel climbed onto the ladder and slowly climbed down.

She took a deep breathe and jumped off into the blue water below.

Cold was an understatement.

The impact left Hazel breathless; from the force and from the frigid cold of the still water.

She surfaced and took a huge gulp of air, treading water for a moment, then she followed Leo and started heading toward shore.

There was a loud splash behind her, and Hazel looked back to see a dolphin head pop up out of the water.

_No fair_, Hazel thought, her teeth chattering. _He gets to be out of here in no time while I'm stuck swimming_.

There was a sudden nudge on the back of her leg, and she looked down to see Frank the Dolphin gliding next to her.

He swam a little ahead and pressed the tip of his fin gently into her open palm.

She closed her hand around it, and immediately, Frank lurched forward and started swimming with incredible speed.

Hazel had to grab the fin with both hands as best she could has Frank maneuvered through the water, around Leo and past Piper and Jason.

They were the first to shore, and as Hazel walked out of the water, Frank turned back into himself and sat next to her on the shore, waiting for everyone else.

"I'm sorry," Hazel whispered, hugging her knees.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Frank replied.

"When else are we going to talk about it?" Hazel countered.

"After the quest is over."

"You want this to be a more miserable quest for the both of us?" Hazel looked at him.

He looked at the water and said nothing.

"I didn't want this to happen," Hazel whispered. "I didn't _tell _Leo that, you know."

Frank nodded. "I know. He said he heard you talking to yourself. That that was how he knew you were telling the truth."

Hazel was silent. She had walked into that one.

"I don't want to hurt you, Frank," Hazel whispered.

They said nothing else to each other.

Jason clambered onto shore, spitting out water and muttering, "I should have flown, I should have flown, I _knew _I should have flown! Gods, Leo!"

Piper was soaked but she didn't seem to mind.

Leo came up last, and together they trudged into the busy city of Ioannina.

* * *

"Can we buy towels, or new clothes, or something?" Frank asked. "I'm freezing."

"Like you have the right to be cold, Mr. Dolphin Man," Piper countered. "But a towel wouldn't hurt."

"It's not like street venders just sell towels here, guys," Leo replied.

"Where is the palace, anyway?" Hazel asked.

"I picked up a map a little while back," Jason said. "It's freaking huge, that's for sure."

"So, what does it look like?" Piper asked.

"Huge, that's really all I can tell you," Jason replied.

They continued walking. Jason directed them when to turn onto new streets that matched the ones on the map until they stood in front of a huge building.

It was a boxed shaped building without the top, and had a huge fountain in the center. The lights made the palace seem to shine gold.

There was a huge sign out front.

Leo read it out loud, "Epirus Palace Hotel and Conference Center."

"The Doors of Death are in a freaking _hotel_?" Hazel asked.

"Thank the gods!" Frank smiled. "I need a soft, expensive bed and a nice shower!"

"It's not like we have time to stay and sleep here, Frank," Piper said. "We have to close the Doors."

"It's late," Jason said. "We'll search the hotel tomorrow for them, but tonight, I suggest we sleep and clean up."

"Does anyone have money?" Hazel asked.

"No, but we have Piper," Leo smiled. "We already made a reservation, right, Piper?"

Piper sighed. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

The interior of the building was gorgeous. Better than anything Hazel had seen, except for maybe some of the buildings in the town in Camp Jupiter.

The ceilings were incredibly high, and there were paintings on every wall and fancy carpets along the shiny tile floors.

Piper walked up to the man at the front desk and began to speak to him about reservations.

Soon enough his eyes glazed over a little bit and he assured them that their suites were in order, gave them three room keys and told them to head upstairs.

Hazel was impressed with Piper's skill, but she was even more impressed by the room she got.

"Hazel and Frank, I put you two together, and Jason and I are together, and Leo, you get your own room," Piper had told them as she passed out the keys.

Hazel and Frank's room had a humongous king sized bed with a huge, fluffy comforter decorated of red and gold, and a mountain of red and gold pillows and accent pillows shoved decoratively against the headboard.

"Found the bathroom!" Frank called out to her from across the huge space.

Hazel walked past the bed and saw a huge television, into another room, with a glass and gold coffee table and big cream colored chairs.

Frank was standing in a doorway of a room attached to the living room.

Hazel came up behind him and saw a huge shower, a relaxing-looking small bathtub, and two sinks on a marble counter top with a huge, spotless mirror hanging above each one.

The toilet was small but clean, and Frank said, "I need to have a moment alone with my new best friend," and he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

Hazel sat down in one of the big chairs and sank into the cushion.

A couple seconds later, she heard Frank shout through the door, "OH MY GODS THE TOILET SEAT IS HEATED!"

That made Hazel laugh.

She turned on the TV with the remote and started flipping through the channels.

_I'm glad you're happy, Frank_, Hazel thought.

After Frank had left the bathroom, clean and refreshed, Hazel had showered, and now they were wrapped in puffy bath robes that came with the room, relaxing on the huge bed.

"I guess we should go to sleep now," Hazel suggested.

Frank leaned over and kissed her.

"I'm going to try to be a little less suffocating," Frank promised, "if you'll appreciate that."

Hazel nodded. "I'll try not to talk about behind your back anymore."

Frank laughed a little. "Much appreciated."

They crawled under the covers and fell asleep next to each other, Hazel finally peaceful.

* * *

**Yay, they made up!**

**Now, I hope you understand why I called this a filler/productive chapter.**

**I hope you liked it, sorry if it was a little too short for some of you guys!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	35. Chapter 35

**Hey, Everyone!**

**So, it's 7:20 on Sunday night, and I look at the clock and I realize, "I still haven't posted to FanFiction!"**

**Worse yet, I only had half a chapter written...**

**So, I really tried to finish it and stuff yesterday, but as you can see, it didn't work out quite so well, so I hope you can forgive me!**

**Sorry for any typos, I was typing really fast because I really wanted to post this (don't know why, it's one of my Tartarus chapters...XP)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 35

Annabeth

Annabeth grabbed her cane as quickly as possible.

Percy drew Riptide and sliced the first worm in half.

But it didn't die, or stop eating.

The two halves kept eating.

"Percy, you're only making more!" Annabeth warned.

"Then how do we get rid of them?!" Percy asked, exasperated.

Annabeth took her cane and poked the worm closest to her until it fell off the ship and into the water.

"Just bump them off with the butt of Riptdie!" Annabeth instructed as she hit off a couple more.

She looked back and saw Percy smacking them off with the butt of his sword, as she instructed.

But there were so many, they couldn't get them off fast enough.

The ship was disappearing quicker than they could knock the worms off and Annabeth was beginning to panic.

"Percy, what are we going to do?" Annabeth asked.

"We have to get off this raft, _now_!"

"To where, Percy?"

"Um, the water!"

"Percy, where do you think the worms _came from_?"

Percy grabbed her hand and said, "What choice do we have?"

Annabeth looked around. She couldn't see any land anywhere close by, just the dark water of the worms.

Annabeth sighed. She closed her eyes tight and nodded.

Percy pulled her forward into their quickly depleting wooden raft.

They plunged into the surprisingly warm waters and Percy dragged her down toward the bottom.

Annabeth held her breath and tried her best to ignore the small little teeth that seemed to be nibbling at her legs.

But it was getting to be too much; she could basically feel them biting at the flesh on her cheeks and she almost screamed before she remembered she was underwater.

After a couple seconds of kicking toward the bottom of the ocean, Annabeth's lungs felt like they were about to burst.

Suddenly, it almost felt like she was ripping through a bubble, but she was pulled through an area with pressure against her, and then she didn't feel like the worms were around her anymore.

She risked it and opened her eyes.

She could see Percy stroking below her, now leveling out, through the clear blue water.

Annabeth started to see stars.

She tried to open her mouth to warn him, but that would only kill her faster.

She pulled on Percy's arm to get his attention, and when she felt the black was overcoming her vision and her lungs were on fire, she took a sudden breath in from force of habit.

Clean air filled her lungs, and she gasped and continued to breathe.

Percy looked over at her and smiled. "You almost turned blue for a second. I was wondering what you were doing."

Annabeth laughed. "You could have told me, you know."

"About the bubble?"

Annabeth nodded.

"Sorry. I think we're out of the water worms' territory," Percy explained as he looked around. "But I'm not too sure. There might be a few stragglers floating around."

They swam, holding hands, no where near the ocean floor or the sky, through the crystal clear water, sometimes making small talk, sometimes just being quiet together.

Percy started to lead downward again, and Annabeth followed, afraid of breaking the bubble.

They pasted something that made Annabeth very suspicious.

It looked like the part of the pirate ship that the pirate would stand in the little basket-like thing with a telescope and look out at the water way up high. Annabeth was too focused on breathing in a bubble to remember the name.

_Where's the rest of the ship_?

"Percy, did you see-" Annabeth started but, Percy cut her off with a slow, drawn out, panicked, "Annabeth!"

She looked to where he was pointed and gasped.

The rest of the pirate ship, old and decaying and broken, covered in muscles and sea decay. Annabeth saw a small crab run around the rotting wooded outside before disappearing through a huge hole in the hull.

"That would make Leo cry, wouldn't it?" Percy asked playfully.

The thought of their friends made Annabeth almost cry, but she sucked up her heartache and remembered they were doing this for them, and for the world.

"But what happened to it?" Annabeth asked. "How did it even get here, in Tartarus?"

They continued to swim.

Annabeth kept glancing around now, looking for anything out of the ordinary, anything that wasn't supposed to be in a place like Tartarus.

"Maybe this place is the exit point for the Sea of Monsters?" Percy offered. "It would make some sense."

At that moment, they pasted a broken, beaten up, really old type of plane. The engraving on the side was old and chipping, but Annabeth could basically make out what it used to say: The Lockeed Model L0-E Electra.

"I don't think it's just that, Percy," Annabeth whispered.

"What?" Percy asked, looking down at it.

"The Flying Laboratory," Annabeth whispered.

"Still not getting anything out of that," Percy said, slightly annoyed.

"Amelia Earhart's last plane before she disappeared," Annabeth said.

"So, anything lost at sea ends up sinking at the bottom of Tartarus?" Percy asked. "That means a huge bunch of nasty stuff could be down here."

Annabeth nodded, unable to speak, too many possibilities running through her head.

They continued swimming.

Percy stopped abruptly and Annabeth almost swam into him.

"I think Chiron miscalculated," Percy said in an ominous voice.

Annabeth looked around and her eyes grew wide.

In front of them, thousands, at least, of monsters, swam the water.

"_This_ is the Sea of Monsters."

* * *

**OH MY GOODNESS!**

**Kimmie, why do you always write such freaking _sucky _Tartarus chapters? I mean, for the gods' sake, this is the Percy Jackson readers' favorite couple, and you make absolutely NOTHING interesting happen! What the nuggets?**

**I'm sorry guys, I really tried! Please forgive it's just that they...well...I don't know, I guess I can't think of any good ideas! I'm sorry! This will lead ot something though, promise!**

**Okay, one more thing before I go...I got this review the other day, and it said...**

Random demigod: I like it. Personally, I like the chapters outside of Tartarus better.

**I couldn't agree more, Random demigod! So, I'm sorry about having to burden you guys with these chapters sometimes, but I know you want to read about them, plus they are extremely important characters in the series, so I try to write good ones, but they always end up falling flat on their face...XP.**

**Sorry, again.**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	36. Chapter 36

**Hey, Everyone!**

**Okay, so I know you might be mad at me about this whole, "She didn't update on Sunday!" thing, but the Author's Note at the end of this chapter is EXTREMELY important, so please read that when you get to it!**

_**SakuraFlutist: I totally want to stay at that hotel (if there aren't monsters) :D** _

**Oh, Sakura...what would be the fun in that? ;)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 36

Jason

They regrouped in the lobby the next morning.

Frank and Hazel seemed happy, and Leo still seemed a little neglected, but Jason had time to worry about his feelings later.

Piper had cleaned up last night, but they were both a little tired from lack of sleep.

Jason had spent a large portion of the night planning, and naturally, Piper had helped him.

"So, this is what we're going to do," Jason began.

"After breakfast," Leo cut in.

Jason smiled. "During breakfast."

Leo sighed.

"We go into the breakfast room, we can get breakfast, blend in, but we sit with strangers and we ask about the hotel. Ask if there's a basement to this place, as all sorts of questions. Do anything to figure out where the Doors of Death might be. We're so close, people; we just have to find them!" Jason said encouragingly.

Hazel smiled and Jason stuck his hand out. "Let's do something corny," he said.

Piper put his hand on top of his, and next was Hazel, then Frank, and finally Leo, and they shouted, "GO TEAM!" and threw their hands in the air and ran off to the breakfast room.

"Why did we just do that?" Leo asked him as they met up in the buffet line.

Jason shrugged as he grabbed a plate. "I don't know; I just felt like it."

Leo smiled. "Cool with me."

Jason and Leo branched off and Jason looked around for anyone to sit next to.

As he wandered around the room, he passed Piper, talking and laughing with some woman, Frank talking to some guy, Hazel talking to a friendly-seeming couple.

Jason finally spotted a girl sitting alone, maybe 14, at a small table in the back.

He pulled up a chair and sat next to her. He placed his tray on the table and smiled at her. "Hi."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Do you have parents here with you?" Jason asked.

She looked away.

She was wearing a black leather jacket and blue jeans with a rip in one knee. She had her arms crossed and her hair was long, straight, and wispy at the ends.

"How long have you been at this hotel?" Jason tried.

"Couple days," she mumbled, not looking at him.

"What do you like to do here?"

"Look around."

"Like, exploring?"

"I don't like to call it that."

"Why not?"

"Sounds too much like a game."

"It's not?"

She shook her head. "It's too important to be a game. Got a lot of looking to do, you know?"

"Whatcha looking for?"

She stared down at her thumbs as she pressed them together.

Jason was quiet.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she said quietly.

"Really?" Jason asked.

"You know…now that I think about it…you seem different," she smiled a little bit under her long hair.

Jason smiled.

"It's not a good thing."

His smile faded. "What do you mean?"

"I _mean_, you don't seem like anyone else in this room, except for maybe the friends you brought in with you."

Jason tried not to show his discomfort. This girl was smart.

And not to sound cliché, but she seemed a little _too _smart.

"So, why are _you _guys here?" she asked.

"Looking around."

"Whatcha looking for?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

She smiled. "Are we going to switch back soon? I liked it better when you were asking me questions."

"Alright. What's your name?"

She didn't answer. She still wouldn't look at him.

"Please, maybe I can help you," Jason offered. "Just tell me what you're looking for."

"I know you can," she whispered. "And _that_'_s _why I'm not telling you."

Jason was confused to the point of speechlessness.

"I guess…I mean…I don't…why…" Jason tried to form a variety of different sentences, but nothing was really working for him.

She laughed a little. "Don't worry about it, I'm not judging you. You're friend's coming."

Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder. She leaned down and whispered, "Jason, I thought you said we should _all _be walking around and asking people for help."

"I am," he replied, and he looked back at the girl sitting in front of him.

She was sitting, looking at her fingers, smiling.

"Jason, what are you talking about?" Piper asked. "There's no one there."

Jason blinked a couple times, then looked from Piper, to the girl, and to Piper again.

"Come on, I met this _really _nice couple, maybe you could come talk with them, too?" Piper offered, helping up and leading him away from the table.

What bothered Jason most about this girl is that she didn't even have to look up to know Piper was coming.

* * *

**Oooo, so what do you guys think about Jason's little invisible friend? Is she real, or is he going crazy?**

**Okay, so here's where the important part comes in...**

**I need to take a break from this story.**

**WHOA WHOA WHOA, HOLD YOUR COMPLAINTS FOR A SECOND, PEOPLE! JUST HERE ME OUT!**

**I'm not going to stop updating FanFiction all together; I'm specifically taking a break from _this _story, so I can work on my others.**

**And I'm sorry, Icecreamsamwhich009, but I hope what you said was true and you like my other stories as well!**

**Thanks for understanding, guys! I don't really know how long my break will be, but I know I will be updating my other stories for a while and taking a break from this one! So, you'll either see a new chapter for The Golden Tiger, ****Bloody Water****, ****or A Divergent in DisguiseSunday and all the Sundays following that until I get this one starting again!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	37. Chapter 37

**Hey, Everyone!**

**I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKKK! YAY!**

**So, the main reason why I took my break was to write my new story and update some old ones. Sorry if I disappointed any of you with the results of my break...**

**But please, check out my newest PJO story Ellipsis!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 37

Hazel

Jason had pulled them all out of the breakfast hall and into his and Piper's room to discuss their interrogations.

"How did yours go, Leo?" Jason asked first.

"It didn't," Leo sighed, scratching his head. "I didn't find out anything important what so every except for basically the whole first season of _The Real Housewives of New Jersey_."

"Hazel, what about you?" Jason asked.

"Um, well," Hazel started, but then she gave up and sighed. "Absolutely nothing."

"Frank?" Jason asked, discouraged.

"I talked to his man," Frank started, looking at the floor. "He asked me if I thought he was crazy. I said no; I told him I didn't think anyone was crazy. And he said that here was something wrong with this hotel: People would go missing and people wouldn't even remember who they were; kids would get lost and then no one would hear from them again; all those things.

"And I asked him what he thought about that.

"And he said saw strange people taking them down to the catacombs below the hotel lobby's floors."

Piper blinked. Jason was stunned into silence. Hazel looked at her boyfriend and wondered why he didn't tell her first.

"I asked him if he knew how to get there," Frank continued. "He said he knew someone that did. He said a friend of mine knew someone that did. And that he should help her. Help her find what she was looking for."

He looked up at all of them then. "I don't know which one of you two it is, but you'd better say something now!" He glared at Leo and Jason and Leo leaned back a bit.

Jason sighed. "She was a fourteen year old girl."

Leo wore a look of relief.

Jason continued, "She sounded a lot like this man of yours. She wouldn't tell me anything about her; just that she was here, looking for something. She wouldn't tell me what it was, but when I offered to help her, she declined. Then she got up and left the table. And then Piper came over and led me off."

Hazel was puzzled. Jason looked like he might be hiding something, but what was the point?

"We have to find her, now," Leo stood up and asked Jason, "What does she look like?"

"Leather windbreaker, brown hair, ripped jeans," Jason replied.

"And her face?"

"She never looked at me."

"We have some hunting to do, guys. People can change clothes, remember," Frank said as he stood up.

He helped Hazel up and Jason and Piper followed them as they all broke apart. Hazel and Frank searched the lobby together.

They checked under staircases and in cabinets in the kitchens. They checked buffet lines and they check behind the desk.

They didn't find a younger girl.

"This is so pointless!" Hazel sighed. "We need a better description of her; we need to know exactly who we're looking for! She could have dyed her hair, or-"

"Hazel, shut up for a second, would you?" Frank whispered. "He's trying to talk to us."

"What?" Hazel looked around. "I don't see anyone out of the ordinary."

Frank didn't reply. He looked like he was listening.

Hazel suddenly became scared.

Frank turned to Hazel. "Hazel, we need to find her."

"Yeah, Frank, I know!" Hazel snapped.

"Hazel, Nico is down there. He's dying. We _need to find her_."

Hazel's response died in her throat. They were so close. So close, and they just couldn't get to him.

Hazel wanted to throw something. She wanted to break something. She wanted to cry.

"We need to tell Jason and the others," Hazel replied, and they ran off to find Jason, Piper, and Leo.

* * *

When they found them on the third floor, Frank began to explain what he had heard with his invisible man-friend.

And Hazel was looking around anxiously, only thinking of her brother. Where he could be in those catacombs. How to help him.

And where the hell that little girl was.

"Um, I'm right here, you don't need to use that language," a younger, feminine voice said calmly from behind Hazel. She turned on her heel and sure enough, a girl with long brown hair, a black leather windbreaker, and ripped blue jeans. She was looking down at her shoes, leaning against the door frame, her long brown hair covering all her facial features. She was twisted a little bit to the side, like she was shielding herself.

"We need to find those catacombs. We need them, now! Please, you have to help us, my brother, he's-"

"I know," she said. "I know all about your problems. That's why I'm here." She picked at her thumbnail with the fingers of her other hand.

"Hazel," Leo asked suddenly, and Hazel snapped her head around to face him.

"Yeah?"

"Who are you talking to?"

Hazel looked back. She was still there.

Hazel looked back at Leo. "Get Jason."

Leo walked off without another word, calling for Jason.

"Nico is _always_ getting himself into things, isn't he?" she asked, finally leaving her thumbnail alone.

"How do you know his name?" Hazel asked.

"I've dropped by and seem him a few times," she shrugged. "He told me to find you. He told me what you looked like. But he also told me what a couple other friends of yours looked like. That's how I showed myself to Jason. Here he comes now."

Jason appeared by Hazel's side in an instant and Leo said, "Is there anything else I can-"

"No," they both said, and Hazel turned her attention back to the girl.

"I can take you to the catacombs, but no one else can see me but you guys. You have to follow me, and if you're gonna get him out, you really should get your friends to come with you, too. So convincing them to follow a girl they can't see really won't help them much, will it? So what are you two going to do?" she asked, still looked at the floor.

"They'll believe both of us," Jason rationalized. "It's more convincing if it's two people."

"Yeah, definitely," Hazel agreed. "We have to go get them. Just, wait here, okay? Please?"

"I'll meet you guys in the lobby in front of the front desk. I'm only waiting five minutes, so you'd better show up. Good luck," her last words were sing-songy and it made Hazel shiver.

_They'll believe us_, Hazel thought as she and Jason ran down the hall to find their friends in Leo's room.

_They have to. For Nico_.

* * *

**I think my whole "Update every Sunday" thing is going to be overruled offically. Because it's offically summer vacation and I'll have a lot more time on my hands, so I'll probably be updating more often. Thanks for understanding!**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	38. Chapter 38

**Hey, Everyone!**

**My internetless vacation starts tomorrow, so I'm going to update as much as I can today, just for you guys!**

**I'm already halfway through with Chapter 39, so that should be up shortly.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 38

Annabeth

"We can't just swim in there and act like nothing will happen," Annabeth said as she scanned the scene in front of her.

They had ducked behind Amelia Earhart's plane and were now discussing the situation at hand.

"We can't just hide out here forever!" came Percy's rash response. "The doors are back there, and so are our friends! We have to get through, and we will. I'll slay them all if I have to, and-"

"There's your fatal flaw again, Percy!" Annabeth sighed. "We can't just go in there and kill them! We'll _die_. They outnumber us 100 to 1!"

"But there are two of us," Percy countered.

"Okay, now you're just being stupid."

Percy glanced at her. Annabeth gave him a hard look. "We can't just go in there, Percy."

"What should we do, Annabeth?" Percy asked. "What's your plan?"

"Find a weak point. A chink in the armor. Find the least populated part of this sea. The chances have to be 10 to 1 or less, or 20 to 2, if we're being technical about this." Annabeth instructed.

"Percy math. Can't beat it."

That made Annabeth smile. Despite the odds, Percy was still her Seaweed Brain.

"It has to end," Annabeth continued. "There aren't that many monsters. We'll attack one of the sides."

"How do we get there?"

"We just keep swimming."

* * *

They had been swimming for what felt like ever. Annabeth's legs were sore and tired, just like her arms.

Percy seemed fine, though.

Lucky son of the Sea God.

"Is it starting to think out yet?" Percy asked wearily. "I want to get to those doors."

"Just a little longer, Percy. And why are you complaining? I'm the tired one here!"

"Sorry, Annabeth. I love you," he said.

"Love you, too." She said bitterly.

He smiled.

Annabeth looked over him at the monsters that seemed…slightly less.

"Only a little while longer, they seem to be thinning. Percy, we're going home!"

"Finally," Percy sighed.

They started swimming toward the slowly thinning mass of monsters.

There were a few monsters Annabeth had never before. They looked similar, but they had features that the ones she knew never had.

Hundred Handed Ones with extra eyes and gills.

Echidnas with wings and gills.

"Percy, something is off about this set of monsters," Annabeth whispered to Percy as they approached the first wave.

"Oh, little demigods, you've finally arrived," a female voice hissed behind them.

Annabeth whirled around in surprise as an Echidna came slithering up to them, through the water.

Percy drew Riptide, and Annabeth pulled out her cane.

"You actually think you can beat me?" her laugh was a wicked cackle. "I have tons and tons of others ready to swarm you, and you think you can beat me?"

"You?" Percy asked. "Yes. Your friends? Less likely."

"Exactly," she showed a wicked grin and she lunged at us.

Percy slashed and cut her head clean off.

But her head was still cackling, even as it sunk to the bottom of the ocean. "You can't beat me, little demigods. You can't beat Gaea."

"Why does everybody say that?" Percy asked Annabeth, and she smiled at his stupidity.

More monsters began to take notice of the two demigods, and soon they were surrounded by ancient Greek myths that looked similar to the ones they knew, but not quite the same.

Annabeth told Percy, "We don't have to kill them all; we just have to get through the ones that are blocking out path to the Doors."

"Okay," Percy sighed. "Let's do this."

"As long as we're together," Annabeth told him as she drew her cane.

"As long as we're together," he responded. And as he spun Riptide, he called to the sea of monsters, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

* * *

**So, this story will be ending soon, as you may know, since they're getting close to the Doors and everything.**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	39. Chapter 39

**Hey, Everyone!**

**I think you'll forgive me for not having this up yesterday, it turned out to be WAAAYY longer than I had intended, and when I thought I was haflway done, I wasn't even close.**

**So, here you are, chapter 39 of The House of Hades by Kimmie G914**

**All right go to Rick Riordan**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 39

Leo

Leo wasn't having that hard of a time believing Hazel and Jason's story.

"She said to meet her in the lobby," Hazel insisted. "We only have 5 minutes, let's just go before she leaves us and we never see him again!"

"Okay, okay, we're coming, Geez," Piper sighed. "We understood the urgency the first time."

And they took off running down the hall, down the stairs, and Leo lagged behind, thinking about how they were going to get in and get out, following Jason and Hazel who were blindly following the lead of a fourteen-year-old girl that was very suspicious, well, to Leo.

He wasn't sure how comfortable he felt with this, but if Hazel was going to do it, and Frank was going to do it, and Piper and Jason were going to do it, then Leo was going to do it, too.

They met at the lobby, at the front desk, and Jason and Hazel talked to someone Leo couldn't see.

Piper came over to him. "Hey, Fire Boy."

"What's up, Beauty Queen?"

"You trust this girl?"

"I trust my friends."

"Me too. I was asking if you trusted this girl they can see and we can't."

"Look, Piper, if they trust the girl, they trust her, and I'll follow them. And since they do, I will," Leo gave her a determined look. "I'm not backing out of this. No matter what. I'm ready to fight."

"Does everyone have their weapons with you?" Jason suddenly asked them. "I'm pretty sure we'll need them."

"What does she say?"

"That we're so close to finding him, and what she's looking for."

"Okay, I guess we're ready, then," Hazel said. "She's not waiting anymore."

Leo debated whether or not to mention that he was really nervous, or that he thought they should turn back now and find their own way down, but Hazel and Jason and started moving, and so the rest of the group followed.

Jason and Hazel suddenly stopped, knelt down, and each grabbed a tile in front of them.

Hazel pulled hers off first, and started down on the wooden floor boards below that.

Once they had pulled the floor apart, Jason stood up and said, "She said this is the entrance. And we have to jump. And it's a long fall."

"Whenever you guys are ready," Hazel said, and then she jumped straight down.

Leo was shocked and horrified.

"Hazel!" Frank yelled in shock, and jumped down after her.

Leo wasn't waiting anymore, either; he jumped straight down into the dark abyss after them.

* * *

Leo looked up and watched the light disappear like the entrance to a long tunnel and wondered if that was how Percy and Annabeth had felt as they were falling into Tartarus.

The thought of them made Leo's heart ache and his stomach twist into knots.

He was doing this for them as much as he was doing this for Hazel and the rest of the world.

It was his fault; him and his stupid fortune cookie.

"You saved two lives and lost two lives, Leo," he told himself solemnly as he shot down after the girl he loved…and Frank.

There was a sort of skidding noise a few feet below him, and suddenly he landed on the top of what seemed to be a kind of slope, because he slid against it until he slid to a stop at the bottom.

It was dark down in the underground they were standing in.

The earth above them was high enough to let Leo stand without hunching over.

Unfortunately, Frank wasn't so lucky.

"She said that the tunnel gets bigger, and that light will show up soon," Hazel said from a distance in front of Leo and Frank's big figure in front of him.

They moved along as Leo heard the skidding and shuffling noises of his friends arriving behind him.

The cave ceiling must have gotten taller, because after a short while, Frank was standing normally in front of him.

There was a sudden bright light that flooded the cave, making Leo squint, even though he had Frank covering most of it in front of him.

They entered a large, circular area with tunnels entrances spaced around them.

They spread out, and Leo checked to make sure all his friends were here.

And then he looked to the center of the space, and he finally saw the girl.

"This is as far as I take you," she said, her voice echoing.

"What?!" Hazel asked, outraged. "Why?"

"Because this is as far as you'll go," she said.

The realization struck Leo across the face harder than a slap would.

"I found what I was looking for," she continued.

"What?" Leo asked.

"My honor," she hissed, and she looked up at Leo.

Leo wanted to vomit as soon as he saw her face.

She was missing her eyes, and there was dried blood crusted around the edges of the eye sockets.

Her nose was twisted to the left, and her mouth looked as if both her lips had been torn off.

A scorpion scurried from one eye socket to the other.

Leo shivered.

"She took this from me," she whispered. "I've been down here for years. I'm just about as old as you are. I just don't look like it. Because I'm _dead_."

Leo looked at his friends around the room. Piper was slowly, so slowly, pulling her knife out.

Leo looked at Jason.

He was pulling his sword out.

"She promised that if I brought you here, she'd give me my eyes back," she continued. "Make me pretty again."

"Gaea," Frank said.

She nodded.

"So now you're all gonna die," she sounded hysterical, actually. "You five, Nico, and the two in Tartarus."

"But that's where you're wrong," Jason said, stepping forward. "You all are going to die, but you're not bringing the rest of us down with you."

And there was suddenly an arrow wedged in her chest.

Leo looked over at Frank, who still had his hands the position he took when he shot.

He lowered his bow, took a shaky breath, and sighed.

She cackled. "I'm already dead. You can't kill me again."

"You obviously don't know the rules around here," Hazel said. "No matter how dead you are, as long as you have some sort of form, you can dissipate when the right kind of weapons are used against you. And lucky for us, we know what those weapons are. And unfortunately for you, Frank's arrow was one of those weapons."

By the time Hazel had finished her demeaning speech, the girl was already a pile of sand, and Jason used the wind and blew it away.

"Sharp shooting, Frank," Leo said.

"Come on, you guys, we've got tons of tunnels to check and not very much time," Hazel encouraged.

"Hey, the girl-"

"Ghost," Frank corrected Leo.

"Sorry, the ghost, said that Gaea had sent her, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Piper asked.

"Well, why would she want to collect us down here?"

"I don't know," Jason asked. "Why do you think?"

"Because maybe the Doors of Death are down here, too."

"Well, then maybe this wasn't so much of a detour after all," Jason said. "We need to split up."

"Gods, we sound like the Scooby Doo gang," Hazel shook her head. "I'll go with Frank."

"And I'll go with Piper and Leo," Jason confirmed. "Good luck, you guys."

"Good luck."

And Leo watched as Hazel and Frank ran off down one of the tunnels.

Leo wondered if he would ever see her again.

"Okay, you guys," Jason said. "Let's go find those Doors. Let Hazel find her brother."

"Where do you suggest we look?" Piper asked.

"Let's just do what they did," Jason said. "Run into a random tunnel and see where it takes us."

"Okay," Piper sighed.

Leo smiled. "One team again."

Jason smiled. "One team."

Leo picked the tunnel right across from the one they had entered in, and they took off running.

"We like running, don't we guys?" Leo asked.

Jason laughed. "I like flying a little better, honestly, but this is fine with me."

* * *

The tunnel system was like a labyrinth. There were so many twists and turns and branching off. Jason wondered if they'd just get lost down here.

They simply acted on impulse and took which ever one they were running toward when they arrived at a part where the tunnel branched into two or more.

They had come to another stop, and Jason sighed. "Which one do we choose?"

"Well," Piper peeked into one of them. "I see a light shining through on that side."

Leo looked over into it, too. "Piper, that's fire."

"What?" she looked at him. "Really?" she took a step closer and looked at it. "Oh." She took a step back. "Yeah, it is. How did they get white fire?"

"No idea," Leo said. "I guess we take the other one."

"The other one is a dead end. A huge set of closed doors." Jason sighed.

"Well, that's our only option," Piper said, putting her hands on her hips. "We have to get them open."

"And what do you suggest?" Leo asked as they walked down toward the door and examined them. "Knocking? Seeing who's home?"

Piper shot him a look. "You're the Hephaestus kid. Tell us what it's made of."

Leo rolled his eyes. He was impressed by the height of the doors. They were easily twice the height of the three of them stacked on each other's shoulders.

They seemed to be made of Celestial Bronze, which didn't make any sense to Leo.

There were two huge knockers, but they seemed to be for decoration.

"I think we should try pushing it," Leo said as he turned back to them.

"Okay," Jason replied.

They walked up to one of the doors and pushed. It slid across the ground easily and the two boys walked it open.

"Well, that was easier than I expected," Piper admitted.

She walked in as the guys pulled away from the door and back into the hallway.

Leo was wiping his hands off on his pants when he suddenly heard a gagging sound and he heard Jason yell, "Piper!"

He snapped his head up and saw Piper, on the ground, kneeling, with her eyes closed, gagging.

Jason ran in to help her and suddenly turned his head into the hallway and vomited.

"Gods, it smells _awful _in there!" Jason gagged as Leo sidestepped the projectile Jason spewed across the floor. "Kind of like rotting death."

"Well, let's get this over with, then," Leo sighed.

"Nope, sorry," Piper said as she finally dragged herself out of the room. "I'm gonna take the fire tunnel."

"No, you're not," Jason replied. "We have to get through it, though. This is definitely the way."

"How can you be sure?" Leo asked.

"Because it doesn't kill us."

"Alright, fine," Piper sighed. "Let's do this."

Leo walked in first this time.

The smell hit him like a wave. Jason had described it pretty well. Rotting death was the first thing that came to mind.

But Leo wasn't done yet. He had friends to save. It was his fault Percy and Annabeth were down there, and he was gonna get them out.

Before he knew it, he had passed the wall of stench and reached a huge room.

The first thing Leo noticed was all the dead flowers. And then he noticed that his friends had came in after him.

"Okay, someone _definitely _doesn't know how to garden," Piper commented.

"The Demeter kids would have a fit," Jason breathed. "I'd hate to show them this."

Leo walked a little farther into the room.

He stared at all the dead flowers in vases, on shelves, sitting with petals gray, stems shriveled, and reeking.

"I think I figured out where the smell is coming from," Leo sighed.

Piper came up beside him.

Jason came up on his other side.

The wall across from them was painted and orange-gold color.

It reminded Leo of something, something that was tugged at the back of his mind, begging to resurface.

And then, out of habit, he looked up.

His eyes grew wide and he took a step back.

"Leo?" Jason asked. "What is it?"

Leo pointed up.

Hanging down from the ceiling, were tons and tons of metal cages. They just hung there. They didn't swing, they just hung.

And Leo could tell that there were people in them.

A hand sticking out from between some cage bars, blood dripping off the side, all those sick things.

And then Leo saw it.

A calf, half of it swinging as if connected to nothing as the bone for the rest of the leg jutted out midway.

And the leg was barely covered by ripped black pants.

Leo looked at Jason. "Fly up and see who's in there."

Jason nodded and he flew to the cage Leo pointed at.

"Leo, what are you so worried about?" Piper asked.

Jason flew back down, and by the look on his face, Leo knew he was correct.

But Leo made him say it anyway.

"Yeah," Jason sighed. "That's Nico in there."

* * *

**Thanks for Reading!**


	40. Chapter 40

**Hey, Everyone!**

**Sorry for the wait, I got back from vacation a couple days ago, and I've been slightly busy at camp, so thank you all for your patience, and HAPPY TUESDAY!**

**The next chapter WILL be updated right after this one, so stay tuned! ;)!**

**I know, I wrote it over vacation, so all I have to do is post it!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 40

Hazel

Hazel was starting to get frustrated with all the searching they had to do.

Tunnel after new, every new entrance, every new turn, every new _anything _made Hazel more and more frustrated.

She wished she'd thought about which tunnel to enter, instead of just acting on impulse, but when had her impulse ever let her down?

When she had been searching for Nico before they'd lost Percy and Annabeth to Tartarus…

She shook her head and they kept running.

"Have you picked up anything yet?" Frank asked.

"Frank, there's no point in trying to find him by his sword," Hazel snapped. "They knew I could do it last time, so they'll just do the same thing again. Plus-"

"Hazel, will you just try-"

"-it was still in his room after he disappeared with Leo's _stupid _pig!" Hazel spat. Tears stung her eyes, threatening to spill. She closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths. When she opened them again, they stopped at another fork in the passage.

"Left or right?" Frank asked.

"Left," Hazel responded, and they headed off down the next tunnel.

"Do you think we'll find him?" Hazel whispered.

"No, Hazel, we're just going to get lost down here and die together," Frank replied. "No, we'll find him. And if we don't, they will."

"But what happens if we don't find him?"

"Then we'll find the Doors."

"Think so?"

"Know so."

"Okay," Hazel sighed. "Let's get moving then. One or the other, we help each other and help the world. Why they like Nico so much, I just don't know."

"Maybe he's like bacon to the monsters," Frank offered. "You don't _need _it, but you like how it tastes."

"Just shut up now."

"Shutting up."

* * *

They finally came to a huge clearing after a lot of running and walking and tunnel changing.

It seemed like a regular old cave, with some stalactites. Most of them were short, but a few were pretty long and jutted down, so Hazel wanted to be careful around them.

"Where do we go from here?" Hazel asked, surveying the area. "I don't see another tunnel entrance."

"Dead end?" Frank asked.

"Guess so," she sighed. "Let's go back and-"

"Not. So. Fast." A loud, simple voice bloomed around the cave, bouncing off the walls.

Frank drew his bow. "Who are you?" he bellowed, his voice not as elegantly reflected off the cave walls as their attacker's.

"I am who I am, and you are who you are. So don't try to change me," the voice remained playful and light, yet somewhat business like.

"Seriously, we don't have time for this," Hazel snapped. "Just show yourself so we can get through this please!"

"Hazel, Hazel," the voice echoed. "I really don't have time for this either. A world to destroy takes a lot of time and effort."

"Yeah, so does saving it," Hazel spat. "Along with the stress of trying to find and save your brother, it really is hard to work with."

The attacker's laugh rebounded along the cave walls, making some of the stalactites vibrate.

"Well, I guess you know I came here to kill you," a body finally came into view in front of them. "But I guess it is nice to know about who you're working against. I mean, I already do, so it is a sort of unfair advantage, yes? Why don't a introduce myself."

"Please do," Frank muttered.

"I am the Titan Clytius. I really don't have very much against you demigods, some of you can be quite useful, but the gods…I never liked them that much. Worse choice Kronos ever made, if I do say so myself." Clytius rambled. "Anyway, I wish to destroy you, simply because the gods are worthless and watching their children burn would be the best punishment before they had their own lives taken away."

Hazel had been trying to figure out who this idiot was and how he'd gotten so peeved at the gods in Greek or Roman mythology, but Hazel couldn't find a single thing. Then again, she really didn't know Greek mythology that well to begin with.

"And why, might I ask, are you so upset with the gods?" Hazel asked, tired of trying. It was making her brain hurt, besides just the general sight of him.

"Hecate burned me back to Tartarus. With some of her stupid fire. And I will get my revenge. I will burn _her _to Tartarus. See how she likes it," he said, and he smiled cruelly.

"Look, if Hecate's your problem, then you really won't be getting your revenge anytime soon," Hazel sighed. She purposefully rolled her eyes. Getting him angry will give him a weak point.

"And why, might I ask, is that?" he asked, but his voice, even rebounding off the walls of the huge cavern, was cool as crystal.

"Because she's not a fighter, Stupid," Frank snapped, Hazel believing he'd caught on.

"What did you just call me?" Clytius asked, his voice still calm, but a little rougher.

"Stupid," Frank repeated. "That's how you're acting."

The next thing that happened, Frank was blown across the cave and he flew straight into the wall behind them.

"Frank!" Hazel yelled, shocked.

The sound of his impact reverberated off the cave walls and stalactites.

So did the crunch that made Hazel wince and cry out for Frank again.

* * *

**Thanks for Reading!**


	41. Chapter 41

**Hey, Everyone!**

**And here we are again, another chapter of my House of Hades story ready to be published and ready to be read! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 41

Jason

Jason didn't know what he was supposed to do about the horrified look on Piper's face, but he knew one thing: they had to get Nico out.

"Jason, what should we do?" Leo asked, his expression not desperate, but determined.

"We get him out of there," Jason replied. "I bet I can fly up there and break open that lock, but only if-"

"AAAUUUUGGHHHH!" An agitated cry rocked the room and shook the cages, and the three demigods standing in the room.

The force of the shout knocked Leo off his feet, and Jason had to stifle his laugh as he watched his friend try to stand up again.

"My poor, poor babies! Oh, Gaea will be _so _upset! Dear dear…!" the voice sounded feminine, kind of like an old lady, but a little younger. Maybe 50?

There was a scuttling noise, and suddenly a long, dark, thick shadow came crawling from the ceiling, along the wall in front of them, and down onto the floor.

And Jason could swear he'd seen this scene before, play out somewhere in front of him. Except there was something missing, the feeling of intense terror that had made him tremor.

That feeling he could never forget.

But where had he gotten it from…?

And then there was suddenly a hand around his bicep, and he looked back and saw Piper, gripping his arm, her face as white as a sheet.

"Pipes?" he asked, worried.

"The dream," she whispered.

And everything came flooding back to him. That dream he'd had right after Percy and Annabeth had been lost to Tartarus. Before they'd lost Nico again. Before any of this had truly started to unravel.

Jason had been right about what he'd told Leo on the deck that night—it really was a lead.

"Ugh, if I'm going to replace that good-for-nothing _wench _Demeter after Gaea takes over the world, than I _have _to be able to take of a roomful of flowers, right? You guys agree, don't you?" the voice continued to ramble.

"Who are you?" Jason called to the beast.

The shadow was of a character he'd never heard of before, that looked like it was separated into three segments like an ant, but with four legs on each side of the middle section. And there were odd…things, protruding from all the sections that Jason couldn't make-out from just a shadow.

"Show yourself!" he called again.

"What do you mean, 'replace Demeter?'" Piper called.

"When Gaea takes over the world, she wishes to disgrace Demeter by giving her job to a creature," the thing rambled. "And she chose me. And now, I have to learn how to gardern! This is very inconvenient, seeing as we're taking over the world in a few days! We just need the sacrifices from Tartarus, and then we'll be ready, but…oohh!" she wailed. "This is so stressful!"

"Oh my gods," Piper whispered to the boys. "We're dealing with a self-conscious _gardener _creature that can't even garden. We've got this in the bag!"

"Self-conscious?" Leo asked.

Jason couldn't see a single way the creature was self-conscious.

"Oh," the creature wailed suddenly, "are you three talking about me? What are you saying? Please don't be calling me fat, I'm just a larger than most! Oh, I _knew _Gaea was mistaking when she said I was special, the first of my kind, whatever else, but she was _so wrong_! I'm a freak!"

"Gods, she sounds like a teenage girl complaining about her mom!" Leo said.

"Ugh, you all probably hate me!"

"Well, we do, but not for that reason," Jason called to her.

There was a long swishing sound, and suddenly the monster croaked, "You…you hate me? Why?"

"Because you have our friend Nico locked up there, and when we last saw him his bone was sticking through his leg, so we're simply assuming it's your fault. Correct us if we're wrong." Jason raised an eyebrow at the beast.

"Well…it wasn't…you see…Gaea said he was bad! I didn't know people would hate me for it!"

"He has a sister," Leo shook his head at the thing. "She's been worried sick about him."

"She's traveling with us, actually," Piper said. "She's been looking for him for days."

"Wait…" the monster stopped. "You just said you're traveling with his sister…and he's bad…which means she's bad…which means you're bad."

Piper's face paled.

"Sorry, guys, but I hate you, too," the beast replied. "And I have to kill you now."

She stepped out from the shadows, finally, and Jason was actually shocked by what he'd found.

A lion's body morphed into two, circular segments, a front and middle, with the two front paws and the face of a lion, with the exception of mandibles connected to the corners of the mouth, on the front.

On the middle segment, a green, scaly serpent protruded from the center of the top, hissing and snapping and slithering. It also had eight long, sharp, black spider legs, four on each side, covered in hairs visible to Jason's eyes from the distance.

And the last segment transferred from lion to goat, including the two back legs and the little white goat tail to boot.

And, it was three times the size of Jason.

"Goodbye, evil demigods. Gaea will rule the world," she said wistfully, her lion mouth moving.

When she shrieked, the lion mouth opened, the snake mouth opened, and the mandibles clicked together quickly and repeatedly.

Jason was so baffled about the mutated chimera in front of him that he only had time to draw his sword before she lunged at them.

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	42. Chapter 42

**Hey, Everyone!**

**I know I haven't updated this story in a while, and I'm sorry about that. I've been busy with camp, and I know Friday was supposed to be my last day, I kept saying that, but my mom signed us up for another week, so it will be a little while longer until quicker updates. **

**This chapter is supposed to be short, just so you know, and this is also the last Tartarus chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

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Chapter 42

Annabeth

Annabeth could hardly breathe.

She was trying her best. But the monsters were winning. There were too many. She was flocked on every side, and it was harder and harder to keep herself together, especially with an unconscious Percy sprawled across her left shoulder, his head pressing against the side of her neck.

She was wielding Riptide and her wooden cane at the same time, trying to kill as many as she could, but they just kept advancing, and she knew the old ones were just coming back together a little ways away. She felt doomed.

She swung her cane and took off another head. She stabbed a creature in the chest and watched it turn to dust around Percy's sword.

She continued to fight, but they kept closing in.

Percy had only been knocked out for a minute, so the bubble had only recently popped.

Annabeth didn't know how much air she had left. But she was starting to see dark spots, and the edge of her vision was darkening.

She kept fight, though. She was trying to get to the cave. She was trying to save the world. She was trying to save Percy, because he couldn't save himself right now.

She was going to keep fighting for him.

The adrenaline was pumping through her veins, along with panic, and she was going to keep fighting.

But her vision was slightly tunneling, and she was losing herself.

But was going to keep fighting. Because she had a responsibility. For her boyfriend and her world.

And she was going to get to those Doors and save them.

But spots were invading. She lost her grip on Riptide and it slipped away from her. She only had one weapon now.

She was going to survive this.

Right?

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	43. Chapter 43

**Hey, Everyone!**

**So, this story is going to be fifty chapters, I think.**

**Enjoy!**

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Chapter 43

Jason

Jason stabbed at the creature and it jerked back.

Piper stabbed at the beast from the other side and it lurched backward and hissed.

Piper wasn't helping.

Jason had pin-pointed every single weak point the monster had, but Piper kept getting in the way. He couldn't just yell at her, tell her to move. They were partners. But sometimes people just had to work alone.

Leo was up at Nico's cage trying to get it to open.

"How you doing up there, Leo?" Jason called up to him.

"I'm working on it, Grace!" Leo's response seemed agitated.

He tried to cut for her side, but Piper got in his way and stabbed for its legs.

He needed to get her out of here, away from harm and out of his way.

But he couldn't just ask her to leave. What could he say? Piper, leave so I can kill the monster while you wait for me outside?

She'd kill him. She'd at least be violently angry with him for the next couple days.

He tried to strike but she stepped in front of him and he could barely hold his sword back before cutting her as she tried to cut off one of the goat legs.

This was the worst Piper had fought…ever.

Didn't she know this was important?

Maybe it was just his view on the situation. She was probably fighting pretty well.

There was a sudden loud crashing sound, and both demigods on the floor and the creature looked back to see whatever it was.

A cage door had fallen and crashed onto the ground. Leo was inside the cage, pulling Nico over his shoulder.

Trying to, anyway.

"Piper, keep it busy," Jason instructed as he flew up to get his friends down.

"Hey, I'm a she!" the creature shrieked. "I have feelings too, you know."

Jason floated outside the cage and waited for a moment. "Leo, just pass him to me, and then jump. I'll catch you."

"Got it, Jason," he replied as he handed Nico to Jason.

Nico wasn't moving. He was breathing, but he wasn't moving.

"Ready?" Leo asked.

"Ready," Jason replied.

Leo ran and leapt into Jason. He caught him easily and he flew back down.

He was dreading the idea of going back and fighting with Piper as Leo tried to wake up Nico.

And then an idea struck him.

Before he could say anything, a moan floated toward him from Leo and Nico's direction, and he turned to see Nico blinking and moving his arms to sit up.

"My leg still broken?" Jason heard him ask.

"Yeah, man," Leo replied.

"Leo, Piper," he shouted to make sure she could hear him. "You two should go and see if you can find Hazel and Frank. We found Nico, so who knows what they found?"

"You think you can do this on your own?" Leo asked.

"Trust me," he replied. "Leave Nico here. I can do this."

"Yeah, leave me here," Nico replied. "I couldn't move even if I wanted to."

"Alright," Piper shouted. "Good luck, Jason."

"We'll see you later, Grace," Leo replied, and Piper took one last swing before Jason cut in and Leo and Piper ran off toward the door and disappeared.

"It seems like it's just you and me, demigod," the creature cackled. "Not as good as the two down in Tartarus, but you may still make a good sacrifice."

"I'm not dying anytime soon, Crazy," he snapped, and then he lunged for the soft spot he'd noticed just at the base of the snake part of her abdomen.

She hissed and lunged backward.

Jason then moved and tried to cut off one of her mandibles. She deflected with one of her lion paws, which split and turned to dust.

She roared and smacked him in the chest with her still whole paw. He went flying into the wall of stench from earlier.

He gagged on the air and crawled his way back into the open air.

He gasped for breath as he stood back up.

He needed to go for that soft spot again.

He screamed and ran at her, and she tried to hit him again, but he dodged and stabbed the soft spot.

She squealed and hissed, but Jason was finished yet.

He pulled his sword out and swung his sword in the direction of the snake neck.

The snake head hissed and lunged for him and bit on his arm, tearing through his shirt and pulling back for another attack.

He sliced it clean off and watched it turn to sand before hitting the ground, raining monster dust all around him.

She roared and clicked her mandibles.

Jason held his injured arm stared at the bite.

It was oozing blood and puss.

It was also probably poisoned.

He tried to ignore it. He had to ignore it, because the monster in front of him was still there.

"Just give up, little demigod," she taunted.

"But I'm winning," he replied.

"Quit while you're ahead," she replied, and she swung her paw at him again as her old one started to reform.

He leapt backward before it hit him and then rushed her and cut off the leg of the reforming paw.

She screeched and tried to hit him, but he was too close to her.

He smiled.

Winners don't quit.

He stabbed through her underside and cut through until he had split open her chest.

"I will return, little demigod," she hissed as she disintegrated. "Gaea will rise. You are just delaying the inevitable."

And she turned into the biggest pile of dust Jason had ever had the pleasure of creating.

He ran over to Nico, and then the pain of the snake bite actually set in. He grabbed his arm and tried to numb the pain.

"Hey, you remembered me," Nico said dully as Jason helped him stand on his good leg, and then he wrapped one of Nico's arms around his shoulders.

"Use me as a crutch," Jason replied, ignoring his comment. "We have to get you back to the ship. We have nectar and ambrosia on the ship. You're going to be just fine."

"Yeah yeah yeah," Nico grumbled. "Let's just go."

Jason was going to get Nico out of here alive.

They passed through the stench wall and out of the still open door. He could only hope that Leo and Piper weren't lost, and Hazel and Frank were okay.

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	44. Chapter 44

**Hey, Everyone!**

**So, I realized that most of my action scenes are kind of wimpy. Sorry about that. They're a little harder to write than you'd think.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 44

Hazel

Hazel wasn't holding off very well.

Frank was unconscious, but breathing. But Clytius was no amateur fighter.

He swung at her with his huge sword and she ducked and ran at him again. The best way to defeat him would definitely have been long distance. But Frank was the archer out of the two of them. And now…

She shook her head. She needed to stay focused on the fight. She'd save Frank later

She had been able to keep Frank behind her so far, backing Clytius up a little bit every time she rushed him. She wasn't going to let Frank die simply because he couldn't defend himself.

Clytius swung again and Hazel lurched forward and fell to the ground, but she could feel the sword had nicked part of her upper back, and more than likely some of her hair.

Hazel jumped to her feet and she ran at him again. She stabbed at his leg and he recoiled in pain as the area crumbled to sand.

But it quickly started to reform as she continued to try to fight him.

Nothing was helping.

She was losing.

He swung at the left side of her head, but she blocked with her sword and pushed him away, and they turned a little bit.

After a little while of this back and forth action between the two of them, they had switched sides of the cave. He was facing the exit and she was facing…

Frank.

Crap. He'd forced her to the other side of the cave.

Her hands started to sweat.

He smiled. "You realized your mistake, didn't you, little demigod? I wish I could say it was a pleasure meeting the boy, but…it just wasn't. You don't call a giant stupid. You'll learn that lesson today, won't you?"

He jumped backward, and he turned to look down on Frank. His smile was vicious as he cocked his head to the side and raised his sword high over his head.

"No!" Hazel screamed as she rushed forward.

But she was too far away. She knew that. She would never reach them in time.

Hazel tripped on a rock and went flying until her chin hit the ground, and she tasted blood. She watched her sword skidded across the cave floor, far away from her.

She looked up at Clytius and Frank just in time to see him swing his arms down.

There was a loud cracking sound, a big ball of something shot past Hazel and hit Clytius's hands.

He cried out and his sword flung against the cave wall and landed next to Frank with a bunch of loud clattering, which echoed throughout the cave and only made it louder.

Clytius hissed as he looked up by the cave entrance.

Hazel looked over her shoulder and saw Leo and Piper in the doorway, Leo with a new ball or fire already in open hand, with his hammer in the other, and Piper with her dagger drawn.

"Didn't like that, did you?" Leo asked tauntingly. "There's more where that came from, don't you worry."

Clytius snarled. "Another fire-user. I'll just have to take care of you first."

Hazel dived for her sword and then scampered to her feet as Clytius rushed Leo.

"LEO, HE DIED BY FIRE!" Hazel shouted.

Leo's eyes lit up. "Oh, this is the easiest challenge of the day."

His hammer ignited and he shot his fire ball straight at Clytius's body.

It hit him square in the chest and he went flying backward.

Hazel crawled over to Frank. She touched his forehead and looked for damages.

He probably had some broken bones, hopefully no internal bleeding.

He was going to survive this. Because Leo and Piper had found them. Someone had found them.

"You useless demigods!" Clytius spat. "I will not be sent back because of the likes of you."

"Too bad," Leo replied cockily, and another fire ball shot through the air, lighting the cave with a harsh whizzing sound.

Hazel kissed the top of Frank's head and stood up with her sword. She turned to see the backside of Clytius. She stabbed her sword straight into his lower back.

He roared as his back arched from the pain. Hazel wrenched her sword out of his back and he staggered forward a couple steps.

Another streak illuminated the cave, and then Clytius stumbled backward the steps he had staggered forward.

And then he fell to his knees as his wound slowly crumbled to sand. It spread across his back and finally he was nothing but a pile of worthless sand.

Hazel kicked the sand around a lot, and then turned to Leo and Piper. "Thank the gods you showed up when you did!"

"Yeah, I know," Piper said. "We saw what was about to happen."

"Can you help me get him back to the ship? We need nectar, and ambrosia, and we need to wake him up," Hazel said.

They ran across the cave to her and they all helped haul him out of the cave and they started their way through the maze.

"Do you remember at all where you guys went?" Leo asked.

"It was the other entrance each time," she recalled. "Like, if we went left the first time, we went right the second time, then left the third, and so on."

"Okay. So which one do we start with?" Leo asked.

"Which ever one is in front of us," Hazel replied.

"Let's hope we make it out alive. The Doors are still open, remember?" Piper said.

"Yeah. Let's go a little faster," Leo replied.

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